


We're out of control (and some say we're sinners)

by Sparklyfairymira (myonetruelove)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Gossip Girl Fusion, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Everybody has secrets, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abortion, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Secrets, Self-Harm, Social Media, Stalking, Suicide Attempt, Thriller, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:14:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 77,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26169262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myonetruelove/pseuds/Sparklyfairymira
Summary: In a world surrounded by the best of everything that money can buy, what could ever go wrong for the teens at Arkadia Prep? Nothing, or at least that’s what they thought until an anonymous Twitter account starts sharing secrets that they want to keep hidden. Oh, and there’s the dead body that shows up after prom.Also known as a Gossip Girl inspired thriller.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Eric Jackson/Nathan Miller, John Murphy/Raven Reyes, Josephine Lightbourne/Gabriel Santiago | Xavier, Octavia Blake/Lincoln, Wells Jaha/Roan
Comments: 58
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new project! I was so excited to start writing this and I'm already working on chapter 6. This is going to be somewhere between 12 and 15 chapters I would say. The goal is to update every week, but that's only if I manage to keep ahead with the chapters. This was heavily inspired by Gossip Girl and you will see some of the characters fitting seamlessly into roles and others do not. This is a bit darker and not so out there as Gossip Girl. I have included some of the heavier topics that will be referenced in the story. Most of it will not be actually happening in the story, but I wanted to warn that they will be referenced so that if anyone doesn't want to read because of that they can opt-out now. The couples listed are the main couples, all others will be listed as they happen.
> 
> Also, we are acting like COVID does not exist in this world. Rating is for topics and language. There will be no detailed sexual encounters as the characters are in high school and I don't need to write that. Title is from "Fire on Fire" by Sam Smith.
> 
> There is a moodboard being worked on as we speak for this fic by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) that I will link as soon as she is done. But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/). As soon as she posts them I will also link here. They're AMAZING pieces and you will all freak. 
> 
> On the topic of The t100 writers for BLM initiative I (and many other talented writers and creators) are currently taking prompts in exchange for donations to a BLM cause. Please check out [the tumblr page here](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) to see what we're all about. We currently have an event going to hopefully help us reach our extended goal of $2500 by the finale so please come and prompt us!

**May 22, 2021**

She wakes slowly, disoriented. Her eyes blink once, twice. She’s lying on the ground. Why is she on the ground? She stares up at the ceiling for a moment as she tries to orient herself. Her body aches which she is sure is due to the fact that she apparently slept on the floor. But where was she? Because this was definitely not her room. She turns her head and finds a familiar face staring back at her.

But something is wrong. His eyes are unseeing as they stare back at her. She blinks as she sits up quickly. There is blood everywhere, pooling under his body and as she looks down she realizes she is also covered in it. What the hell. She scoots back, away from the body as she begins to shake. How did she get here? What the hell had happened? She can’t remember anything. Tears slide down her cheeks as she pulls her knees up, wrapping her arms around her them. She doesn’t know what the hell was going on. 

Her eyes scan the room again and she recognizes the decor. She is in a room at The Empire. At least that was one question answered. But she doesn’t know how she’d gotten there or what the hell had happened. These are questions she _needs_ answered, but she doesn’t know how to answer those.

She spots her phone on the floor at the feet of the body, because that’s all that he is now—just a body. She scrambles across the floor, grabs the phone and hurries back to her spot against the wall. Her hands are still shaking as she unlocks the phone, quickly finding the name that she needs. 

It doesn’t even ring a full time before it’s picked up. “Hello.”

“Something happened. I need you.” She’s sobbing and she’s not even sure when she started. “Please. I’m at The Empire. I don’t know what room. Please hurry.”

“It’s fine, I’ll figure it out. Don’t move. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I love you.”

“I love you too.” She disconnects the line as her eyes begin to scan the room again, looking for any clue that could tell her how she’d ended up here. She comes up empty. There’s nothing there besides his body and her. 

She lays her head on her knees as she sobs. Why can’t she remember what had happened? What was the last thing that she remembered? Why can’t she remember even getting here? What was she going to do? She doesn’t think that she’s hurt - she feels no pain and sees no injuries on herself. What did that mean?

* * *

**September 8, 2020**

Clarke stares out the window as Josephine talks, only half listening. Talking was something that her sister was very good at and Clarke had become accustomed to listening with just one ear.

“Damn it, Clarke. Will you pay attention!” Josephine reaches out and squeezes her arm. “Don’t you think that I know when you’re listening by now?”

Clarke’s smile was small as she turns back to her sister. “Sorry, Josie. Just got lost in thought.”

Josephine rolls her eyes at her before turning her attention back to the road. “I had to spend the whole summer without you while you were at that stupid art seminar. I had to go to all of the parties on my own. I’m not doing that this year. You _will_ be coming to _all_ the parties with me this year. It’s our junior year, we’ve only got two years until we’re off to college. We might not even go to the same college. I want to spend as much time with you as possible.”

It’s Clarke’s turn to roll her eyes as they pull into the parking lot of Arkadia Prep. Josephine was very good at being overdramatic—something else that Clarke has gotten used to in the 16 years of growing up with her. “Fine, Josie. I will go to all the parties that you want to drag me too.”

As Josephine puts the car into park she sends her sister a smile. “Thank you. That’s all that I’m asking for.” She starts to get out of the car but stops suddenly. “I forgot to post the picture we took at home! Hang on, let me do that. We have to document our first day of junior year.”

Clarke undoes her seat belt as she watches Josephine type away at her phone. “You do know that we don’t have to let the whole world know about _everything_ we do.”

Josephine laughs. “Of course we so, Clarkie. How else are they going to know about all the important events going on?” She tosses her phone in her bag as she grins. “Now come on, let’s go kick this year’s ass.”

Clarke gets out of the car slowly, taking in the scene before her. Arkadia Prep is a large school, too large considering the number of kids that attend. It was a school for the rich and few underprivileged that were smart enough to get a scholarship. It was on the Upper East Side of Arkadia where the richest of the rich live, including the Griffins. Clarke knows that she’s privileged, but she wonders how many of her classmates also realize this. She knows that Josephine doesn’t—she takes everything for advantage. But that was her sister. 

“C’mon Clarke. Everyone is waiting.” Josephine stands about halfway up the stairs that lead to the front courtyard as she gestures to their group of friends.

Clarke shakes her head as she quickly follows her sister. Echo, Emori, and Gaia wait for them at the top of the stairs—minions awaiting their queen. And that’s exactly what Josephine is—the Queen Bee of Arkadia Prep and she knows it. She likes to pretend that she shares the title with Clarke, but Clarke could care less. She’s here to get into a good college and get the hell out of this town that brings nothing but misery to those that live there. But she likes to pretend for her sister’s sake. 

The girls head over to where Murphy and Roan lean against the wall of the school, Murphy with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Clarke smiles at Roan but frowns at Murphy. “I thought that you were giving up smoking?”

Murphy rolls his eyes at her. “I am. As soon as the first bell rings, _Mom_.”

Josephine, Echo, Emori, and Gaia all laugh. Josephine nudges Clarke in the side. “You don’t need to be such a spoilsport you know. If he wants to smell and have bad breath that’s on him.”

“I did _not_ miss the two of you over the summer.” Murphy drops the cigarette, crushing it under his shoe as he turns his attention to Emori. “Looking good, Emori.”

Emori rolls her eyes as she turns her back on him. “In your dreams, Murphy.”

Roan laughs as he scoops Clarke up for a hug. “I don’t care what Murphy says. I missed you. The summer was so boring without you.”

“Thanks, Roan. I’m glad that we all bore you so much.” Josephine’s voice is dripping with sarcasm. “You know you could make new friends. Maybe some in your own grade.”

“Nah.” Roan keeps his arm around Clarke as the bell rings and they all head into the building. “You know I love you, Josie. I just like Clarke better. And most of the kids in my grade are assholes.”

“And you’re not?” Clarke grins up at him.

“Well, sure. But at least I’m a cute asshole, right?” 

Clarke shakes her head as she breaks away from him to open her locker. “Well, you’re _my_ asshole at least.”

“Wait, I thought that _I_ was your asshole?” Murphy leans against the locker beside her, face sour. 

Clarke sighs. “You’re both my assholes and I love you both—equally. Now I’m going to class. C’mon Murphy, you can tell me all about the hot girls you slept with while you were in Europe.”

Clarke walks off and Murphy trails after her, telling her about all the girls he’d met and how hot they’d been. Murphy might not be everyone’s cup of tea—Josephine and he fight like cats and dogs half the time, but he is by far one of Clarke’s favorite people. She rolls her eyes at his antics, knowing that he is exaggerating some of the details of his conquests, but she lets him have his fun.

* * *

Bellamy looks out the window and sighs. 

“Give it a chance, Bellamy,” Marcus’s voice was pleading with him. “I went to school here for high school and so did Richard.”

Bellamy stiffens at the mention of Octavia’s father as he turns around to look at where she sits in the backseat, heading bouncing along with whatever music is blaring through her AirPods. “Not exactly a ringing endorsement, Marcus.”

Marcus lets out an exasperated sigh. “Look, I know you’d rather be at Mecha High with Raven and your other friends, but this school can help you get into a better college. You _do_ want to go to college, don’t you?”

“You know I do.” Bellamy nods. “Fine, I’ll give it a chance.” He reaches back to tap Octavia’s knee. “C’mon, O. We’re here.” He climbs out of the car, watching as Octavia’s eyes widen as she looks up at the school.

“It’s so big.” Octavia tucks away her AirPods. “I’m going to get lost.”

“You’ll be fine. Just keep your head down, O. Don’t give them a reason to cause any trouble,” Bellamy whispers as they walk up the steps. “Remember how these kids treated us whenever they ran into us in town.”

Octavia rolls her eyes. “That was how they treated us before we were one of them. We’re not the poor kids anymore. Uncle Marcus has taken us in and he’s loaded so, therefore, we’re loaded. It’s different now.”

“It’s really not.” Bellamy shakes his head. “Just try to stay out of trouble. Do you want me to walk you to your first class.”

“Seriously, Bell? No, I don’t want you to walk me to my first class.” Octavia rolls her eyes at him before turning and walking away. “I’m not a child, you know.”

Bellamy watches her walk away, knowing that the chances of her staying out of trouble are slim to none, but she is right. She’s not a child. She’s just his baby sister starting high school. It’s fine. She’ll be fine and he’ll be fine. He can deal with this rich kid school. It’s no big deal. He tries to keep his face neutral, to not let his disdain at being there show. He hopes that he’s at least slightly successful.

He pulls his schedule from his pocket and looks up his locker number. Turning from side to side, he scans the locker numbers and spots his just down the hallway. He puts the combo in, throwing his backpack inside and pulling out the books he’ll need for his first two classes. 

“Hey,” a quiet voice calls from the other side of his locker.

Bellamy closes his locker and comes face to face with a light-skinned black boy standing there. Bellamy nods to him. “Hi.”

“The name’s Miller.” The boy extends his hand which Bellamy takes, giving it a firm shake. “Do you need help finding your first class?”

“Uhhh…I’m Bellamy,” Bellamy stutters a little, looking around. “Am I giving off new kid vibes or something?”

Miller laughs as he adjusts his own books. “Not at all. Most of us have been going to school together since preschool so a newbie sticks out a bit. Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I mean, there went my plan of fading into the background though.” Bellamy shakes his head. Of course, they’d all gone to school forever. He was never going get over how different lives they’d lived.

“Oh, yeah. That’s not going to happen. We don’t often get new blood here unless it’s a scholarship kid.” Miller pauses. “You’re not a scholarship kid, right? Because I didn’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just-”

“No, man. It’s good.” Bellamy cuts Miller off, seeing that the other boy is getting flustered. “My younger sister and I recently moved in with her uncle. He enrolled us here because it’s where he went.”

“Oh, good. Look. I have nothing against anyone who is here on scholarship and I didn’t mean to make it sound like I did. I’m really not like all the other assholes here.” Miller grins. “Even though I did totally sound like an asshole.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We all need an asshole friend, right?” Bellamy returns the grin. He likes Miller. He seems like someone that he could be friends with and with Raven going to school on the other side of town he could really use a friend here at Arkadia Prep. Someone to help him get through the monotony that he knew life here would be. He gives himself an internal shake, reminding himself that he’d promised that he’d give this place a chance. Sometimes it’s just hard to let go of old prejudices—and he has plenty when it comes to the rich kids from this side of town.

“Well, then I’ll gladly fill that space for you.” Miller reaches out for Bellamy’s schedule which he gives up willingly. “Looks like we have first period together and a few other classes so that’ll make it easier.” He hands the schedule back to Bellamy. “But just so you know you really aren’t going to be able to slide under the radar. You’re going to be big news at least for a few weeks.”

“Awesome.” Bellamy sighs. So much for anonymity. He didn’t want anyone making a big deal about his being there. He just wanted to get through the next two years unscathed and keep O out of trouble. He should’ve known that would be too much to ask for. His life never has been and he’s sure never will be easy.

“Let’s head to class.” Miller nods down the hallway as the bell rings. “That’s our five-minute warning.” 

Bellamy nods, falling into step beside him as they head down the hallways. He hasn’t made it more than two steps when someone knocks into him, both their books going flying. He catches the blonde that has barrelled into him, steadying her. “You okay?”

“No thanks to you, asshole.”

Another voice calls to him from over his shoulder. “You should really watch where the hell you’re going.”

The girl that knocked into him leans down as he does the same, both grabbing their books. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Jesus, Clarke. C’mon. We’re going to be late.” The other blonde grabs her by the arm and starts dragging her down the hallway. “And don’t apologize to someone who _obviously_ ran into you. You’re too nice for your own good.”

Clarke turns and tosses over her shoulder, “Sorry again.” And then she is gone, swallowed into the crowd. 

Miller helps Bellamy to his feet. “What an intro to the school, meeting Hurricane Josephine before first period.”

Bellamy turns to him, puzzled. “Hurricane Josephine?”

Miller starts leading him down the hallway again as he talks, “The girl that bumped into you is Clarke Griffin. She’s one of the nicest girls you’ll find here—a good friend of mine actually. The other girl-” Miller makes a face. “That’s her twin, Josephine or Josie as she goes by. She’s in charge here or whatever. She’s the popular girl who rules the school. I’m sure that you had a girl like that wherever you were before here? Which by the way—I _will_ want details on that soon if we’re going to be friends.”

Bellamy nods. “I’m pretty sure there’s one of those at every high school.”

“Probably.” Miller nods towards an open classroom door. “That’s our first period. Look, don’t judge all of us based on Josie. She’s not exactly a nice person and being popular hasn’t helped that. She drags Clarke into a lot of shit, but Clarke is cool.”

Bellamy nods. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“You should.” Miller grins as they take their seats. “You’ll come to find that I know everything and that I’m always right.”

Bellamy laughs as the bell rings again, announcing the beginning of class. He turns his attention to the teacher as she begins to call roll. Maybe going to school here won’t be so bad.

* * *

Octavia has managed to make it to lunchtime without any issues. She’s managed to find each of her classes and while she was almost late to her fourth period she’d rushed into the door just as the bell finished ringing. She’s standing in the small cafeteria, unbelieving at the choice of foods that they have. Sushi, vegan food, really anything she could think of they have it. She walks over and grabs some Chinese food, laughing to herself. If she was at Mecha High they’d probably be serving some mystery meat lunch. God, she loves this school so much. She can’t understand why Bellamy is so determined to hate it here.

She strolls out the doors that lead to what one of the girls in her last class had called the lunch courtyard because apparently there were 4 different courtyards at the school. This is the one where most people ate their lunch as long as the weather permitted as the cafeteria was quite small. Her eyes scan the crowd as she tries to figure out where to sit. On the far end of the courtyard, she sees Bellamy waving at her from where he sits with a group of two other guys, but she ignores him. She’s not going to be the loser that eats lunch with her brother. Not too far away from her are a few of the freshman girls that have been in her classes, but she’s honestly not very interested in befriending them. Most of them have been a little vapid and not the people that she wants to be friends with. She wants to be friends with the popular kids. She _needs_ to be popular. She doesn’t fully understand what is driving this desire, but she sees no reason not to follow it.

In the center of the courtyard, she sees a group of girls set apart from all the rest, two beautiful blondes seeming to be the center of attention. She wonders if these are the Griffin twins. The freshman girls had whispered about them in reverence. Apparently they were the ones to know if you wanted to be known. And Octavia definitely wants to be known. She lifts her head and strides over, coming to a stop at the end of the table.

“Hi, I’m Octavia. I was wondering if I could sit with you.” She smiles as her eyes slide over the group, but they stop on the two blonde girls with whom the others seem to turn to.

One of them laughs as she looks Octavia over before shaking her head. “Yeah, no. We don’t associate with _freshmen_.” She said it was like a dirty word—like she hadn’t been a freshman at some point. 

Octavia pushes down on the anger that she feels trying to rise. It was fine. This wasn’t the first time that she has been looked down on and she’s sure that it won’t be the last. She sends them a brilliant smile and nods. “Of course. Well, thanks anyway.”

As she turns to go another voice calls out to her. “Hey, wait.”

Octavia turns around to see the other blonde shaking her head. “Of course you can sit with us.” She pats the spot next to her. “Ignore Josie, sometimes she forgets that she’s _not_ the most important person in the world and that her word is definitely not the last word. I’m Clarke by the way.” She holds her hand out as Octavia settles beside her.

Octavia takes her hand with a smile. “From what I hear she _is_ one of the most important people in this school though.”

“Oh, don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll just get a bigger head.” Clarke grins. “As I said this is Josie, my twin. That’s Echo, Emori, and Gaia.” She points to each girl as she says their name. “And unlike my sister, I think that it’s important that we befriend freshmen. How else are we going to find people that don’t know who the hell we are?”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Octavia nods over to a group of freshman girls that she recognized earlier. They all stare at her in shock, as if they can’t believe that she has managed to get a seat at the table. “The two of you are all they could talk about all day. Trying to figure out a way to get on your good side.”

“So you just decided to take your chance and walk over?” Echo’s face is blank, her voice betraying no emotion.

Octavia shrugs. “There’s no reward without a little bit of risk.”

Echo snickers as she leans over to whisper in Emori’s ear. Octavia can’t hear exactly what she says, but she’s sure that it’s nothing nice. She rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to the Griffin girls. She doesn’t care what others say about her. She’s above that. If they want to talk shit—let them. She repeats this to herself over and over, tamping down on the anger again. This is the one lesson that she has listened to Bellamy about—keeping her anger under control. She doesn’t need another incident, especially not at this new school. She is determined to be someone important here and not just the mental girl who gets into fights all the time.

Josephine smiles at her. “You know what. I’ve changed my mind. I like you. Octavia, was it?”

Octavia nods, returning the smile as she nods. “You can call me O if you want. It’s what my brother calls me.”

“Well now, who is this new beauty gracing us with her presence?” A deep male voice asked before a tall muscular boy sat beside her. His hair falls past his shoulders and is pulled half up to keep it out of his face. He is gorgeous, but Octavia isn’t surprised seeing as all the girls are as well. He extends his hand to her. “Roan. Roan King.”

Octavia places her hand in his, laughing when he brings it to his lips. “Octavia Blake.”

“Now, now, Roan. You can’t hog the new girl all to yourself.” Another boy sits down across from them, not as traditionally attractive as the other boy, but there was something about him that made him seem more attractive. “I’m Murphy and a much better choice than this oaf.”

“Nope.” Clarke shakes her head. “Stay away from both of them. They’re assholes and you’re much too sweet for the likes of them. Not to mention she’s a freshman, Roan.”

Roan holds up his hands in surrender. “I was just introducing myself and letting her know that she’s beautiful. I did nothing wrong, no need to scold me.”

“Yeah, well, let’s keep it that way.” Clarke shakes her head as she turns to stare at Murphy. “And don’t even make me start with you.”

Octavia watches as Murphy smirks at Clarke for a moment before turning back to her. “I apologize Octavia. Sometimes I forget myself and that I should apparently _always_ act like a gentleman.”

Josephine snorts. “You? A gentleman. Yeah, that’s not a word I would ever use to describe you. Like ever. I can think of a few others though. Manipulative. Selfish. A dick.”

“Can we just have a good first day, guys? Just _one_ day without you fighting?” Clarke sighs as she looks between the two of them.

“Nope, never going to happen.” Murphy grins again before digging into his food.

“So tell me about yourself, Octavia Blake.” Clarke shoots her another smile before taking a bite of her sushi.

“Obviously I’m a freshman. My brother and I moved in with my uncle after our mom died over the summer.” Octavia tries to smile. She’s happy to be here, she really is. But even after months, the mention of her mom tugs at her heart. She might not have been the most present mom in the world, but she’d loved them with everything that she had.

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.” Clarke squeezes Octavia’s hand lightly. “If you need someone to talk to let me know. My dad died a few years ago. I know how hard that can be.”

Octavia nods, grateful for the offer. “Thanks, but I’m doing okay.”

“So who is your uncle? He has to have money to have gotten you and your brother in here.” Josephine leans over to see Octavia over her sister.

“Josie!” Clarke elbows her sister as she shakes her head. Her exasperation is written all over her face.

“It’s okay, it’s true.” Octavia shrugs. “He is rich. His name is Marcus Kane.”

“Of Kane Tech?” Josephine’s eyebrows rise as she lets out a whistle. “You’re not kidding. He was our dad’s friend. Also, his biggest competitor.”

“So are you going to be coming to the Griffins’ back to school party?” Roan sat backward, leaning his back against the table as he looks to Octavia again.

Josephine grins at her. “Yes, you have to come! It’s Friday night at our place.” She holds her hand out to Octavia. “Let me see your phone. I’ll put my number in and text myself. I’ll add you to our group text and send the deets in there again. It won’t hurt to remind everyone.” She takes the phone from Octavia and quickly starts typing in it. “You can invite your brother too. Anyone that is anyone will be there.” 

Octavia takes her phone back and within seconds she has been added to a group chat. “That sounds great. Thanks.”

The bell rings and they all begin to pick up their stuff. As Octavia is about to follow the others, Clarke stops her. “Hey, I’m glad that you came over to us today. That took courage and I like to be friends with brave people who are willing to put themselves out there like that. But watch out for the others. They’re not as nice as they pretend to be. At least not all of them. They’re used to looking out for number one and don’t always care about who gets hurt in the process.” She smiles although it looks a little forced. “I’m not trying to warn you off, but don’t trust them. Even Josephine. She’s my sister and I love her, but she has a tendency to be extra selfish.”

Octavia nods slowly. “Okay. And what about you? Can I trust you?”

“I guess that’s for you to decide. What I can tell you is that I’m the nicest person in that group and I’ll watch out for you.” Clarke begins to walk away and Octavia hurries to catch up with her. “And I’d actually _like_ to be your friend and not just because of who your uncle is.”

“Thanks, Clarke.” Octavia stops when she hears Bellamy calling out to her, rolling her eyes. “That’s my brother. I better see what he wants. Thanks again and I’d like to be your friend too.”

Clarke shoots her one last smile before heading back inside as Octavia turns to face her brother, knowing that a lecture is coming. But she honestly doesn’t care because she’s just made her first friend in high school and it isn’t just some girl. It’s one of the Griffin twins. She feels a little guilt, knowing that the only reason that she’d approached Clarke was that she was popular. On the other hand, she genuinely likes Clarke so maybe that makes up for it. She smiles at Bellamy as he approaches, hoping that she’ll still have time to get to class on time once he’s done yelling at her.

* * *

Josephine sits down beside her sister for the last class of the day, glad that the day is finally almost over. She glances over to her other side and sees the new kid—the one that she’d yelled at that morning sitting there. He is definitely hot. She bites her lip before leaning over and smiling. “Hi, I’m Josie.”

He looks to her and scoffs. “Yeah, we met this morning when you decided to yell at me about getting in your sister’s way after _she_ ran into me.”

“I am sorry about that,” Clarke calls over to him.

He nods his head to her before turning his attention back to the front of the classroom. What an ass. Josephine rolls her eyes as she turns in her seat. “Can you believe that?”

“He obviously doesn’t know who you are.” Echo shakes her head, eyes flashing over to where he sat. Josephine rolls her own eyes as she sees the hunger in Echo’s. That’s one of the things that Josephine finds most annoying about her—she says what she thinks Josephine wants to hear but isn’t always able to hide what she’s actually thinking.

“Or maybe he just doesn’t like it when people are rude to him.” Clarke turns in her chair to glare at Echo. “Don’t be such a bitch.”

“Screw you, Clarke. I’m just saying that he didn’t need to be so rude to Josie,” Echo snaps back at her, anger flashing in her eyes as her attention focuses away from Bellamy and fully onto Clarke.

“Well, maybe she shouldn’t have been so rude to him this morning. Right, Josie?” Clarke turns her attention back to her sister.

“Whatever, Clarke.” Josephine’s eyes snap to Echo. “And _you_ need to watch how you talk to my sister.”

“Seriously? I was standing up for you!”

Josephine rolls her eyes as she turns to face forward again. “I don’t need anyone standing up for me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” She glances over her shoulder to glare at Echo. “And don’t ever forget that.” 

Josephine ignores Echo’s pleas that she didn’t mean by it. Most of the time she couldn’t even stand her, but she was a King so she let her stick around. Her family’s money made her a possible important connection. But that didn’t make her any less of a pain in her ass. Sometimes being the Queen Bee was such a chore. She focuses on the teacher, Mr. Tyler, as he begins to call roll and she hopes that he isn’t a complete idiot like half of her teachers seem to be this year. 

“Okay, so let’s see if any of you actually did the required reading.” Mr. Tyler walks around his desk, sitting on it as he looks out to the class. “So _The Great Gatsby_. The first question we will be discussing is whether or not it is relevant today or if it is outdated.” 

Josephine snickers to herself when Clarke is the first one with her hand up. Of course, her sister has to be the first one, but that’s just Clarke.

“Clarke?”

Clarke clears her throat before leaning forward slightly. “I think that while some of the themes can be carried over, it’s extremely outdated. Things aren’t the same today as they were back then.”

On the other side of her, Josephine hears a snort come from the new kid. “Bellamy? You disagree?”

“Of course I disagree, but I’m not surprised to hear that she thinks otherwise. Most of the kids at this school come from old money like the families on East Egg. They never accepted the families that came from new money that inhabited the West Egg.” Unlike Clarke, Bellamy is leaning back in his chair, looking comfortable. “The same thing happens nowadays. New money isn’t accepted into the Upper East Side like the old money. They’re always viewed as less than.”

“Seriously? How would you even know that?” Clarke turns in her chair to look around Josephine at Bellamy. “You’ve been here for all of 5 minutes.”

Bellamy laughs. “Trust me, I know how this works.” He shrugs. “And the decadence that Gatsby shows in his parties is so much like the decadence that can be seen here. Yes, he was new money and not old so that’s not _exactly_ the same. But he _earned_ his wealth, even if it was illegally. It wasn’t just handed to him.”

“I don’t think that has anything to do with the question.” Clarke turns back to face Mr. Tyler. “I think Bellamy might see things a little skewed. Yes, the wealthy are treated differently, but I don’t think that wealth is as important to the overall story as he’s suggesting. It’s a story about tragedy and lost love. Yes, Gatsby wasn’t wealthy enough to marry Daisy when he first met her, but that’s not how things are in modern times. Rich people marry people with fewer means than themselves all the time.”

Bellamy laughs again. “I think you’re living in a fantasy world, princess. Poor people do not marry into rich, old money.” He turns his attention back to Mr. Tyler. “But moving beyond the issue of wealth there was Gatsby’s desire to be socially accepted which I think is equivalent to our generation’s need to post everything that they do on social media because they want to be accepted.”

“That’s not why we post on social media!” Clarke’s attention is once again on Bellamy. “It’s not about social acceptance, it’s about connection.”

Mr. Tyler holds up his hand before Bellamy can reply. “I think you both have excellent thoughts on the matter, but why don’t we let someone else have a chance to add to this conversation?”

Josephine leans over to Clarke, laughing as Mr. Tyler calls on someone else. “Maybe you should bring it down just a notch dear sister. It’s just school, nothing to get worked up over.”

“And maybe you should take it a little more seriously, Josie.” Clarke glares at her as she shakes her head. “You act like you’re dumb, but I know how smart you are. If you put in just a tiny bit of effort you could be at the top of the class with me.”

“Hey, Clarkie...why don’t you go fuck off?” Josephine’s voice was teasing, but the words held a bite. This is a conversation that she is used to having with her sister. She doesn’t understand that being a good student isn’t part of the image that she wants to portray. It doesn’t work with the flaky socialite image she has going. Clarke couldn’t seem to understand that there was a reason behind everything she did. She likes letting people think that she’s dumb—that Clarke is the smart one out of the two of them. Because then they underestimate her and they never see her coming. It was the most effective way to take out threats, but she couldn’t get Clarke to understand that. Clarke, who doesn’t have a dishonest bone in her body—perfect Clarke.

Clarke doesn’t understand that letting people see that she’s smart means that they’ll expect more of her—that there will be more pressure and more expectations. No one is disappointed if they don’t know what your _actual_ potential is. Josephine is smarter than anyone gives her credit for—because she doesn’t let them _know_ how smart she is. Everyone expects Clarke to do well, to be the best. If she messes up everyone has something to say about it. This is why Josephine thinks it’s smarter to let people think she’s dumb - then she can’t be a disappointment

She glances over at Clarke and sees her biting down on her lip causing Josephine to sigh. Shit. Her intention has not been to upset her. Hurting her sister was never high on her to-do list. “I’m sorry, Clarke. I just don’t want to have this conversation with you again. I have my reasons—reasons that you can’t seem to understand. So why don’t we just drop it?”

Clarke nods slowly before trying to force a smile. “Okay, Jos, and I’m sorry too. I just want what’s best for you.”

Josephine reaches across the aisle, grasping her sister’s hand for just a moment. “I know and I love you for that.”

“Can the two of you be quiet?” Bellamy hisses in their direction. “I’m trying to listen.”

“Bellamy? Did you have something you wanted to share?” Their teacher stops in front of Bellamy, looking over the edge of his glasses at him.

Bellamy lets out a sigh as he shakes his head. “No, sir. I just missed something so I was asking if Josie had heard it.”

The teacher continues to look at him for a moment before nodding. “Fine, but next time just raise your hand and ask. I’ll be happy to repeat anything you missed.”

“Of course, sir. It won’t happen again.” As soon as the teacher’s back was turned Bellamy’s head spun in her direction as he glares.

Josephine shoots him a fake smile before turning back to her notes. Serves him right for butting into her conversation with Clarke. He may be hot, but she did _not_ like his attitude. She was used to kids with holier than thou attitudes, but she isn’t used to them looking down on her and if she is honest with herself she does not like it—not one bit. Maybe Bellamy just needs to be knocked down a few pegs. 

Josephine smiles to herself as she plots ways that she can make him understand that she’s the one in charge here. It’s a fact that he’ll learn eventually—she might as well enjoy teaching it to him. When the bell rings she gathers her things as she calls out to him. “I hope you enjoyed your first day here, new kid. Because it’s probably going to be the only good day you have at this school.”

“Josie!” Clarke hisses at her sister as she hurries to gather her own things as Josephine waltzes from the room. “I’m sorry again for her.”

Josephine doesn’t slow down as she heads out of the room and to her locker. Maybe one day Clarke would stop apologizing for her. Her sister knows that she’s never sorry for anything she says or does, but she continues to apologize for her. Maybe she’ll have a talk with Clarke about that. She really doesn’t need anyone apologizing for her—especially when she isn’t sorry.

Being the Queen Bee means standing by what she says, even if she were to feel sorry about it—which she never does—otherwise, others will begin to doubt her. And that can _never_ happen. Her place is at the top and she’ll do whatever she has to stay there. 

* * *

**September 11, 2020**

By the time Friday night rolls around Murphy is already over school. He’s never been a big fan of school anyway, he’s always learned better on his own—at his own pace. But his friends are there so he goes to school instead of homeschooling, where he would probably finish faster. Honestly, it’s the parties that keep him going. Arkadia Prep students throw the best parties. As he pushes open the door to the Griffin house he knows that this one will be just as good. Well, if he’s honest it’s the parties and the clause in his dad’s will that said the only way he could inherit the hotel is if he attends his dad’s alma mater Arkadia U for college and the best way into Arkadia U is through Arkadia Prep. But really it is mostly the parties.

On the Upper East Side, they don’t do parties like the kids down in Mecha. He’s been to a party or two on the poorer side of town, but he’s never been impressed. Loud music booming through small houses, too many people crammed into a small space, and beer the only drink you can get your hands on. No, the Upper East Siders throw much better parties.

Top 100 music wound its way through the large house, but you could still hold a conversation as a DJ spun. Full bars set up for any drink that you could want. Groups of people talking or dancing, but it isn’t overcrowded. This is the way that Murphy likes to party. He heads straight for the bar for a glass of scotch. It had taken him years to get used to the taste, but now it was his drink of choice. It had been his dad’s after-dinner drink of choice—always Macallan 18. It makes him feel closer to a man that has been dead for almost five years, a man that he has always idolized. 

Murphy shakes his head as he scans the room, looking to see if there is anyone he wants to talk to. He leans against the bar, eyes scanning until they land on Finn Collins. He follows Finn’s line of sight and realizes that he’s once again watching Clarke. He laughs to himself. Finn has had a thing for Clarke since some time in middle school, but she’s never seen him that way. He’s so fucking pathetic. Murphy feels his smirk growing as he heads in Finn’s direction. Giving Finn shit sounds like a wonderful way to start the party. He knows he shouldn’t get such joy out of tormenting others, but it’s just so much _fun_.

“Collins.”

Finn doesn’t even react as Murphy reaches his side. “Murphy. What do you want?”

“Well, I was just wondering if you were ever planning on giving up on Clarke. As one of her closest friends I can promise you that she never has and never will be interested in dating you.” Murphy leans against the wall as he watches Finn for his reaction. 

Finn doesn’t even look in his direction, eyes still on Clarke. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Murphy’s eyes follow the path of Finn’s once again. “So you’re _not_ staring at Clarke Griffin right this minute?”

Finn sighs as he turns to look at Murphy. “I was not _staring_. I was looking at a friend—concerned.” He gestures toward where Clarke is in what looks like a heated argument with Lexa Preston. “It looks like something is wrong.”

“And that’s your business how?” Murphy rolls his eyes. Collins is so fucking pathetic it’s not even funny. He knows that nothing he says will get it through his thick skull that Clarke isn’t interested in him, but he likes to point it out to him as often as possible. Mainly just to fuck with him. Maybe to get him to doubt himself a little. Hell, maybe it’ll give him the push he needs to _actually_ ask her out. Murphy really hopes that he’s there when Finn finally gets the balls to ask her out just so that he can watch her turn him down flat. That would make his day—hell, maybe even his month if he got to see that.

“Because she’s my friend?” Finn shakes his head as his attention turns back to Clarke. “I mean, what in the world do the two of them even have to argue about?”

Murphy shrugs. “I have no idea because it’s _none_ of my business.”

Finn starts to take a step forward causing Murphy’s attention to fall to Clarke once again. His hand shoots out to stop Finn as they watch Clarke stalk off. Lexa hesitates for a moment before following her. “Yeah, let’s not, huh? Whatever is going on there is between the two of them. Butt the fuck out and leave Clarke alone. Stop being a fucking loser and find someone who is _actually_ interested in you, huh?”

Murphy drops his hold on Finn as the other boy’s shoulder drop. And now he’s bored. He walks away from Finn without a word, eyes once again scanning the room. He smirks when he sees the brave freshman who had apparently asked to sit with them at lunch today. Echo had been complaining about her all week—not that Murphy really pays attention to what she says. Unfortunately, some of what she has said had reached his ears. What had been her name? Olivia? That didn’t sound right, but he was sure that it starts with an O. She’s a little young for his tastes, but she is gorgeous so maybe a little flirting wouldn’t hurt anything. And Clarke is otherwise occupied so it’s not like she can yell at him.

He heads toward her, smiling as he approaches. Her face lights up when she sees him. “Hi. Murphy, right?”

Murphy nods slowly. “I’m impressed. You learned a lot of new names this week and still managed to remember mine.” He pauses for a moment, trying to decide the best way to approach the fact that he doesn’t remember her name.

She laughs. “You don’t remember _my_ name do you?”

Murphy shakes his head, sheepishly. “No. I’m sorry, I’m not great with names, but I promise if you tell me it now I won’t ever forget it again.”

She blushes slightly, a slight pink rising in her cheeks, but she holds her head high. “Octavia.”

“Well, Octavia, would you like a drink?”

Octavia bites her lip as she considers it. “I guess? I mean, I’ve never had alcohol before so I don’t even know _wha_ t to drink.”

Murphy nods. God, she really _is_ young. “You just leave that to me. C’mon.” He reaches out and grabs her hand, pulling her towards the bar. Once there he grins. “Do you trust me?”

Octavia shakes her head. “No, not really.”

Murphy throws his head back, laughing. “That’s probably a smart idea. But I meant do you trust that I can pick out a drink that you’ll like?”

“Yeah, that I can probably trust you with.” She grins up at him. “It’s not like _I_ have any idea what I’ll like.”

“Can I get the lady a Sex on the Beach?” The bartender nods and quickly gets to work on the drink.

“Really? There’s a drink called sex on the beach?” Octavia’s nose wrinkles.

“There is. There’s also a fuzzy navel, a buttery nipple-” Murphy breaks off when he sees the look on her face. “Hey, don’t be so judgemental. It’s not like I named the drinks. And honestly, if it’s a name similar to that you’ll probably like it.” He grabs the drink from the bartender before fully facing her again. “Now before you take this I’m going to tell you the one rule about drinking at these parties, okay?”

Octavia tilts her head to the side, but he can tell from the look on her face that she’s intrigued. “What’s that?”

“Never take a drink from someone that you didn’t see made yourself. There are some people who are even more of an asshole than me that’ll drug your drink.” Murphy offers the drink to her.

Octavia looks at it suspiciously for a moment before taking it from his hand and taking a small sip. She grins up at him. “That’s really good.”

“Of course it is.” Murphy doesn’t even have to force his grin as he smiles down at her. “I told you that you could trust me.” He leans over to whisper in her ear, “At least about the drink.”

Octavia laughs nervously as he pulls back from her slightly. Their faces are close and Murphy is sure that she wouldn’t mind him kissing her. He slowly begins to lean toward her, watching as her tongue flicks out to lick her lips. His lips have just barely brushed hers when he is jerked back by his shoulder and swung around just in time to see a fist heading toward his face. Well, fuck.

* * *

Clarke sits down on her bed as tears slide down her cheeks. She wipes at her face when she hears a knock at her door. “I’m fine, Josie.”

The door opens slowly, revealing Lexa standing there. “Not Josie.”

“I can see that.” Clarke shakes her head as the tears continue to fall even though she tries to make them stop. “I said all that I had to say, Lexa. I think you should leave now.”

The other girl ignores her, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. “No, Clarke. I think we need to finish our conversation.”

Clarke jerks to her feet. “Why? So we can have the same damn fight we’ve been having all week? You don’t understand, Lexa. You came out when you were a child. You _always_ knew that you were gay. I’ve never understood what I was or what I was feeling—let alone tell anyone about it.”

Lexa doesn’t move any closer to her as she watches her. “Clarke, have you even admitted it to yourself?”

“What?” Clarke snaps. “That I’m bi? Yes, I’ve admitted it to myself. Maybe you should stop trying to psychoanalyze me and try just dating me.”

Lexa continues to remain calm, no matter how angry Clarke gets, her face blank of all emotion. “I’m not trying to psychoanalyze you, Clarke, I’m just trying to get you to understand yourself.”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it.” Clarke shakes her head. “You want me to announce to everyone that I’m not straight and guess what? I’m not ready for that. I haven’t even told Josephine yet—let alone my mother. She is _not_ going to react well. I know that your family was very accepting, but my mom won’t be. Until I’m ready to tell them, I can’t come out. Period.” She can’t understand why Lexa is having such a hard time grasping this concept. She’s not ready. So why is her girlfriend pressuring her?

“I won’t let you shove me back in the closet, Clarke,” Lexa speaks just above a whisper, not meeting Clarke’s eyes. “I can’t keep hiding our relationship.”

“You _can’t_ ? Or you _won’t_?” Clarke shoots back.

“Does it really matter?” Lexa’s eyes snap up to meet hers. “The end result is still the same.”

“Lexa, please. I just need a little more time. Let me start by telling Josie this weekend. She’ll help me figure out how to tell my mom,” Clarke pleads, reaching out to take Lexa’s hands in her own.

Lexa’s eyes soften for a fraction of a moment before she nods. “Fine. I don’t want to lose you, Clarke. I love you, you know that. I just want to be able to hold my girlfriend’s hand in public, kiss her hello when I come to her party. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”

Clarke fights back a sigh. She gets what Lexa is saying. Hell, she wants to be able to do those things too. But one thing Abby Griffin is not is accepting of change or of her daughters being anything besides what she deems as perfect. But it’s fine. She’ll tell Josephine tomorrow and they’ll figure it out together. “You’re right, Lex.” Clarke leans in to kiss her. “I’ll tell her tomorrow and by Monday we’ll have a plan, I promise.”

Lexa’s smile is soft as she leads Clarke back toward the bed, laughing when Clarke spins her so that it is her butt that lands on the edge of the bed. Clarke leans in, kissing Lexa as she reaches behind and unties her shirt. The kiss deepens as Lexa’s shirt begins to slide and she leans back on the bed, pulling Clarke on top of her. 

After about ten minutes of kissing and wandering hands, Clarke pulls back. “We really should get back. Josie is going to notice that I’m gone.”

Lexa sighs as she sits up, retying her shirt. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want that to happen.”

“Lexa.” Clarke knows that Lexa doesn’t care for Josephine, but she will not stand for her talking badly about her sister and Lexa knows it. 

“I’m sorry.” Lexa leans over and kisses her lightly. “I promised that I would give you more time and I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Clarke kisses her again before pulling her to her feet. She checks her reflection in the mirror and while she is a little flushed she doesn’t think anyone would notice. She leads Lexa out of the room, closing the door behind them before heading back downstairs. 

Her eyes meet Josephine’s just as she steps off of the last step and she reads the curiosity—the suspicion in them. Clarke looks away, knowing that will only make her sister more suspicious, but she can’t help herself. She hates keeping things from Josephine. Keeping this secret from her has been tearing Clarke up inside for the last six months. That and the fact that she had spent her summer away from Josephine to attend the art seminar that Lexa had also attended. She knows that Josephine will be mad, but she hopes that she’ll understand and forgive her. 

“Shit, Clarke.” Lexa grabs her arm, trying to get her attention.

“Huh?”

“I think there’s a fight over by the bar.”

Clarke’s eyes swing toward the bar and sure enough, she can see that a fight has broken out. She rushes over to see Bellamy push Murphy, who is holding his face. “What the hell is going on?”

Bellamy pays her no attention as he gets in Murphy’s face, jabbing his finger into the other boy’s chest. “She’s 14 years old you pervert!”

“Bell! Knock it off!” Octavia grabs at Bellamy’s arm, but he brushes her off easily. “Stop being a dick!”

Josephine is suddenly beside Clarke. She looks between Murphy, Bellamy, and Octavia before shaking her head. “The two of you-” She gestures between Bellamy and Octavia. “Need to get the hell out. I don’t know how things were where you came from, but we don’t do fights at parties on the Upper East Side.”

“Oh come off it, Jos.” Clarke shakes her head. “This is _not_ the first fight at one of our parties. And it’s definitely not the first one that involved someone punching Murphy. You don’t have to leave.”

“While a true statement, I take offense to what you’re insinuating, Clarke.” Murphy has turned his attention to her, ignoring the very angry teenage boy in his face.

“No, I think that we will be leaving.” Bellamy steps away from Murphy as he reaches back and grabs Octavia’s arm. 

Octavia tries to pull her arm free but is unable to. Bellamy begins to drag her toward the door as she tries to resist. “I’m not ready to go, Bellamy. Let me go!”

“I will not.” Bellamy huffs at her, ignoring the stares of the other partygoers.

Miller steps in front of Bellamy, hands raised. “Hey, man. Maybe you should calm down a bit? Hang out, get a drink? No reason to drag your sister from the party.”

“Miller, get the hell out of my way.” Bellamy’s voice was quiet but menacing. Clarke can tell that he is _pissed_ . “Octavia and I are leaving _now._ ”

Miller slowly steps back, shaking his head. “You don’t need to embarrass her like this.”

“Butt out. You don’t have a little sister.” Bellamy doesn’t glance back at any of them as he pulls Octavia through the crowd and out the door.

Clarke moves to stand next to Miller. “What a nice friend you have there.”

“What can I say, Griffin? I have a thing for assholes.” Miller grins at her as he throws his arm around her shoulders. 

“That’s because you’re an asshole.” Clarke’s elbow digs into Miller’s side for a moment, but it’s just in jest. She shakes her head. “Poor Octavia.”

“Poor Octavia? I’m more worried about what Octavia is going to do to Bellamy.” Miller laughs as he leads her to the bar. “Now I thought this was a party. Where’s your drink?”

Clarke laughs before putting in her drink order. The party has already started back up, the fight all but forgotten—for now. Clarke knows that it won’t be forgotten for long. She expects that if she were to open up Twitter she will find a full account of the drama from everyone in the room. Her eyes flit across the room and meet Lexa’s for just a moment. Fuck it. She just wants to forget about her problems for the moment. “Can I also get two tequila shots?”

“Oh, so that’s how the night is going to go, Griffin?”

Clarke grins up at Miller. “Sure is. Now let’s see if you can keep up.”

“Oh, it’s on.” They clink their shot glasses together before throwing them back. Drinking might not be the healthiest of ways to deal with her problems, but it was the easiest. And honestly? She would love to just forget them for a bit and just have fun. She doesn’t do that enough and she’s missed the shit out of Miller. So for tonight, she’s going to get drunk with Miller and forget about the conversation that she will have to have with Josephine in the morning.

* * *

**September 12, 2020**

Josephine jumps into Clarke’s bed, shaking her sister insistently. At first Clarke just groans and swats at her hands, not wanting to wake up. Josephine tells herself to reign it in—reign in the annoyance, the disbelief. “Damn it, Clarke. Wake the fuck up.”

Clarke rolls onto her back, blinking up at her sister. “Josie? What the hell is going on?”

And that is just the question that Josephine herself wants to know. Josephine shoves her phone into Clarke’s face, watching as she goes cross-eyed as she tries to see what she is being shown. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Josephine knows that the hurt is bleeding into her voice, but she can’t help it. She _is_ hurt. Why wouldn’t Clarke tell her? Did she not trust her?

“Tell you what?” Clarke grabs the phone from Josephine’s hand, sitting up as she blinks a few more times to clear her eyes. “What am I looking at?”

“That’s what the hell I want to know!” Josephine roars, jumping up off the bed to pace around Clarke’s room. This is the way she prefers it, anger. Anger is always better than hurt. It’s something she understands better. “I just don’t know why you didn’t tell me.”

Clarke’s sudden gasp causes her to pause, turning back to face her sister. Clarke has gone pale, mouth agape as she stares at the phone. 

“How? What?” Clarke tosses Josephine’s phone to the side, scrambling to get to her own phone off of her bedside table. “I don’t understand how this happened.” She starts scrolling through her phone as tears began to fall down her cheeks. “Everyone knows. Everyone.” Clarke looks terrified as her eyes meet Josephine’s and Josephine feels the anger dissipating. “Everyone is messaging me about this. Everybody knows, Jos.”

“Clarke Griffin!” Abby’s roar can be heard all the way from downstairs and both girls lock eyes as they hear their mother slamming her way up the stairs. Abby slams the door open so hard that it rebounds off of the wall and almost slams back into her. “What the hell is the meaning of these pictures?”

“I-” Clarke stutters as she looks to Josephine as if she has the answers. “I...uh…”

“That isn’t an answer Clarke. Are you a lesbian now? What are you trying to do to this family? This could ruin us!” Abby spins to face Josephine. “Did you know about this? Why the hell wouldn’t you have told me so that we could send her off to get fixed?”

Just like that, the anger was back, but this time it was fully directed at her mother. Abby Griffin only cared about her daughters when there was something in it for her. So of course she views this as a betrayal. “You need to back the hell off, mother dearest,” Josephine speaks quietly and carefully, trying not to let the anger get the better of her. 

“Excuse me?” Abby screeched. 

“Clarke has the right to love whomever she pleases, whether it be a man or a woman. So what if she’s a lesbian? So what if she’s bisexual? Or pansexual! So what if she’s experimenting.” Josephine steps forward until she is standing between Abby and Clarke. “Whatever she is or isn’t, guess what? It doesn’t affect a goddamn thing in this family. You need to stop acting like a bigot! Dad would be ashamed!”

Abby looks taken aback at the mention of Jake but quickly recovers. She slaps Josephine across the face as her own face turns beet red. “Don’t you _dare_ bring your father into this. If he was here he’d be asking the same damn questions I am.”

“Wrong.” Josephine grits her teeth against the pain of the slap, refusing to let Abby see that she’s hurt her. “If dad was here he’d be telling Clarke how proud he is of her for trying to find herself because unlike you dad loved us and cared about what was going on in our lives. So I suggest you get the hell out of here and leave us alone before I do or say something that we’ll all regret.”

Abby stands there, eyes locked with Josephine’s for a moment. Josephine doesn’t blink, because she knows that’s what Abby is waiting for. After a few seconds, Abby shakes her head. “This conversation isn’t over.”

“Yes, it is,” Josephine calls out, walking over to slam the door as Abby leaves the room. She turns back to find Clarke curled up in a ball on the bed, silent tears falling down her cheeks. “Oh, Clarkie.” Josephine hurries across the room, crawling into the bed and taking her sister into her arms. “It’s going to be okay, Clarke. I promise.”

“How can you say that? All the kids at school know. You remember what it was like when Miller came out freshman year.” Clarke sniffs and Josephine knows that she’s trying to calm herself. 

“Because I’ll destroy _anyone_ who tries to come after you.” Josephine takes Clarke’s face in her hands. “Do you hear me?” And it’s the truth. Josephine will bring down anyone who has one foul word to say about her sister. No one screws with her sister—no one.

Clarke nods slowly. “I just don’t understand what happened. How did someone get a picture of us.” Clarke pauses for a moment, her eyes meeting Josephine’s. “What if it was Lexa?”

“And why would Lexa do something like that?” Josephine was beyond confused. 

“We’ve been fighting all week. She wants me to come out to everyone so that we can make it official. I told her that I needed to tell you first and help me figure out how to tell mom.” Clarke shakes her head. “She said she’d give me this weekend, but what if she didn’t want to wait? What if she had someone take a picture of us?”

Fucking Lexa. Josephine has never liked her anyway. Lexa has always looked down her nose at Josephine. She thinks she is so much better than her and as much as she hates to admit it, this did sound like something that Lexa would do. “Well, maybe it wasn’t her?” Josephine winced internally at the lack of conviction in her voice. If she finds out that it was Lexa that had done this Josephine will kill her—okay, maybe not kill her. But she’ll make sure that no one from the Upper East Side wants anything to do with her ever again.

“It had to be her. No one else would’ve known that we’d be upstairs last night. It was just after we’d fought and she’d followed me upstairs.” Clarke’s body began to shake as her silent tears became body wrenching sobs. “How could she do this to me? I loved her. She said she loved me. How could she force me to come out like this?”

Clarke’s phone began to vibrate between them and when Josephine sees Lexa’s picture appear on the screen she snatches it up before Clarke has a chance to move. “Who the hell do you think you are? Calling my sister after you just screwed her over like that?” 

“Look, I just need to talk to Clarke please.” Lexa’s voice is pleading, but all that does is make Josephine angrier.

“I have a better idea. How about you fuck off and leave my sister the hell alone?” Josephine takes the phone from her ear, planning to disconnect the call when Clarke snatches it from her hands.

“Lexa?” Clarke pauses as she listens to something that Lexa is saying, her tears slowing. “No, Lexa. Hear me now because I am only going to say this once. I _never_ want to see you again. I can’t believe you would sink so low as to out someone who wasn’t ready to come out yet. I asked for the weekend—as in two days, but you couldn’t wait that long? No, shut up. I don’t want to listen to your lies. Don’t call me, don’t text me and you’d better not try to talk to me at school. We’re done.” Clarke hangs up before turning her phone completely off. 

“Are you okay?” Josephine takes Clarke’s hand into hers.

“No.” Clarke shakes her head. “But I will be. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Josephine nods. “I know you are. I’m sorry I barged in here like this, but at least it gave you some warning before mom came storming in here.”

Clarke laughs, her tears finally stopping. “Yeah, thanks for that. That would’ve been a terrible way to wake up.” She bites her lip. “Hey, Jos?”

“Yeah, Clarkie?”

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m bisexual.”

Josephine smiles, tears pooling in her eyes for just a moment. “Thanks for telling me, Clarke.” She pulls Clarke in for a hug. 

“Thank you for loving me no matter what.” Clarke sighs into Josephine’s shoulder.

“Always.” She still doesn’t know why Clarke felt the need to hide it from her, but that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is protecting Clarke from Lexa and the other assholes that go to their school. She swears that she will make sure that Clarke doesn’t hear a bad word from anyone. She will start with their friends, making sure that they know not to mention it in any negative fashion if they want to stay friends with her. Then she’ll get them to spread the word. Come Monday if there is anyone still talking about it, she’ll make it stop. Because no one hurts her sister.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October brings Halloween parties, a prank, and a few fights. What secrets will be revealed now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!!! Welcome to chapter 2 of my fic! I meant to have this posted Saturday, but because I want to stay ahead I had to make sure chapter 6 was finished before I posted this. I hope that you enjoy it and there are more edits this time via texts so that is hopefully fun for you all! I looked forward to hearing your thoughts.
> 
> Moodboard by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) can be viewed [ HERE ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8bd62559f961510210b7daf424f0e4af/94c54c19b580b33d-ae/s500x750/6db66b5261319340e49fafa67199b16cf14b5b3a.jpg). But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) for some art to go with the fic which you can see [ HERE](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/post/627966436600643585/requested-for-t100fic-for-blm-by). Please check it out and give her all the love that she dserves.
> 
> On the topic of The t100 writers for BLM initiative I (and many other talented writers and creators) are currently taking prompts in exchange for donations to a BLM cause. Please check out [the tumblr page here](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) to see what we're all about. We currently have an event going to hopefully help us reach our extended goal of $2500 by the finale so please come and prompt us!

**May 22, 2021 **

She paces back and forth in front of the door, trying to keep her eyes focused on anything besides his body. But it seems like with each pass she can’t help but look. She feels sick. She just can’t understand how this could’ve happened or what happened. It’s been less than 30 minutes since she made the phone call, but it feels like a lifetime.

A sharp knock on the door causes her to jump, but then she runs over and throws it open. “Thank God, you’re here-” she breaks off when she realizes that there isn’t one person at the door, but two. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“Nice to see you, too.” He rolls his eyes. “Why don’t you let us inside so we can see the damage?”

She steps back to allow them into the room but grabs the other girl’s arm. “Seriously? Why would you bring him?”

“Because I didn’t know what I was going to be walking into.” The other girl shrugs her off. “Now what the hell is going on?”

She bites her lip and leads them around the bed to the body.

“Shit.”

“Is he dead?”

“Yes, he’s fucking dead. His eyes are wide open, you dipshit.” The other girl rolls her eyes at the boy. “What happened?”

She doesn’t remember. God, she wishes she could remember. “I have no idea. The last thing I remember is the prom.”

“Prom was two days ago.” The boy looks over her, alarmed. “You’re telling me you have no memory of the last two days?”

When she shakes her head the other girl curses again. “That means we have no idea what all you’ve touched. What do we do? Torch it?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? No, we don’t torch it. There are sprinklers. It’ll just draw attention to this sooner.” The boy sighs. “Just wipe down all of the surfaces—and I mean _all_ of them. Hopefully, then they won’t know she was here. I’m going to go see if I can do anything about the surveillance cameras. Fuck.” He heads to the door and then he’s gone. 

The girls quickly grab towels from the bathroom, wiping down all of the surfaces: the dresser, the counters in the bathroom, the shower, the nightstand. Anything that could possibly have a fingerprint. When they’re done they stand in front of the body.

“What about him? Do you think they could get a fingerprint off of him?” The other girl asks.

“Probably, but I was seen with him at prom so it would make sense that my fingerprints were on him, right?” 

The other girl nods. “You’re right. Okay, I think that’s everything except the doorknob which we’ll wipe as we’re leaving.” She glances at the clock. “Where the hell is he?”

As if he’s been magically summoned, there is a knock on the door. They hurry over and open it for him. “The video won’t be a problem. Did you get everything wiped down?”

Both girls nod. “Great. Let’s wipe down both door handles and get the fuck out of here.” 

The girls quickly follow his instructions, but then come up short. “What about the towels?”

“Bring them with us. We’ll get rid of them later.” He shakes his head. “We need to get out of here before the cameras come back up. The room was in his name. He had it for the whole weekend. I don’t think anyone will come to check on him before tomorrow so we should be fine.”

“You managed to get all of that information _and_ take care of the cameras? Color me impressed.” The other girl laughs as they head down the hallway.

“Well color me freaked out. Can we just hurry up? I want to go home.” She sighs as she looks down at herself. “People are going to notice the blood on my dress. I got it off of my skin, but it’s all over my dress.”

The boy nods. “Don’t worry, I grabbed my jacket. I dropped it next to the elevator. Take a deep breath. We’ve got this.”

Right. They _totally_ have this. She doesn’t believe that for a second.

* * *

**October 30, 2020**

Bellamy shakes his head as he watches Octavia prancing down the hallway following behind the Griffin twins like a lost puppy. He’s tried so hard to get her to not hang out with them, but the more he’s pushed the more resistant she has been. He’s even tried to convince Marcus to tell her to not hang out with them, but he has nothing but nice things to say about the girls. Now here she is with the little clique all dressed in their uniforms, cat ears on their heads, and painted faces. It’s pathetic really just how much she wants to fit in with those fake girls.

He and Clarke have continued to butt heads in class, never having the same opinion on _anything_. He hates to admit it, but it is actually nice to have someone to debate intellectually with. Not that he will ever admit that to her. 

“Really, Blake?” Miller steps up beside him, shaking his head.

“What?” Bellamy tears his attention away from Octavia to face his friend.

Miller rolls his eyes. “Like I couldn’t hear your giant sigh all the way down the hallway. Or see your pointed glare at your sister. You really need to give it up. She’s going to keep being friends with them, especially if you keep telling her not to. You have to realize by now that they’re not as bad as you think they are.”

Bellamy scoffs. “Think again, my friend. All they have done is confirm my opinions of them.” Miller and Lincoln, one of guy who Miller has introduced him to, are his only two actual friends at this stupid school and they have both been trying to convince that Clarke is nice and she nothing like her sister, but he is having none of it. He’s seen nothing to prove otherwise. 

Not to mention the things he’s heard about Clarke and Josephine—their partying and he’d even heard that Josephine had cheated on her finals last year, but it couldn’t be proven. He did have a small moment of weakness when it came to Clarke, though. The day following the disastrous party Octavia had gasped while they were sitting at the breakfast table. Apparently, someone had outed Clarke. At school the following Monday there had been some nasty rumors being spread around and he’d heard Clarke called some not so nice names. And he has to give it to Josephine—she took up for her sister as he would’ve if the same had happened to Octavia. By the end of the day, not a damn person had been talking about Clarke being bisexual. 

“Whatever you say, Bellamy. Whatever you say.” Miller begins to walk toward class and Bellamy falls into step with him. “So did you manage to convince Marcus to ban Octavia from Finn’s party?”

Bellamy scowls. “No. He thinks it’ll be good for her to get out. He _loves_ Josie and Clarke. He was practically gushing their praises. It was terrible.”

“So I take it that means that we’re going to the party?”

“Yes, we are most definitely going to the party.” Bellamy looks at Miller out of the corner of his eyes. “Do you _not_ remember what happened the last time O went to one of their parties?”

“Oh, you mean when you embarrassed her and made an ass out of yourself by punching Murphy and then dragging her out of the party?” Miller smirks at him. “Yeah, I remember what happened.”

“I didn’t make an ass out of myself,” Bellamy mutters.

“Yeah, okay. You just keep telling yourself that. And I’m sure that you don’t think you embarrassed Octavia, either?”

Bellamy shrugs. “Better to embarrass her by dragging her out of a party than let her embarrass herself by getting mixed up with a dick like Murphy and end up pregnant.”

Miller rolls his eyes. “You know that she’s not a kid, right? You can’t keep her from making bad decisions. She won’t learn from being told not to do something. The only way to learn from mistakes is by making them. You need to let her make mistakes.”

Bellamy shakes his head. This isn’t something that Miller can understand. He doesn’t have a little sister and he didn’t grow up the way that they had. He knows that this isn’t something that he can explain to Miller—it’s not something he _wants_ to explain to him. “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that she’s safe. That’s all there is to it.”

“Whatever you say, Blake.”

As they head into the classroom Bellamy is about to reply when a blonde comes within inches of crashing into him. He rolls his eyes when he realizes that it’s Clarke. “You have a severe problem remembering to look where you’re going, don’t you princess? One day you’re going to have to realize that you’re not the only person in the world.” Bellamy doesn’t say anything else as he stalks to his seat, leaving Miler and Clarke standing in the doorway.

When his eyes fall back to them he sees Clarke’s shoulders droop and she looks crestfallen. Guilt rises in him as he watches her steel herself, straightening her shoulder again as she shoots Miller a sad smile before walking to her own desk.

Miller glares at him as he walks to his seat beside Bellamy. “Way to be a dick, Blake.” 

Bellamy shrugs. He wishes that he could say that he hadn’t meant to be a dick, but that would be a lie. There was just something about Clarke that rubs him the wrong way and as much as he hates to admit it he knows that it’s nothing that she’s done, but his own hang-ups about her wealth. Which he knows isn’t fair. He bites his lip, looking over his shoulder to see Clarke talking to another girl whose name he doesn’t know. He knows that he needs to apologize for being a dick, but as the bell goes off he lets out a sigh of relief. It’ll just have to wait until later.

* * *

**October 31, 2020**

Octavia pastes a smile on her lips as she pushes open the door to the Collins’ home. Glancing down at her costume she takes a deep breath. It shows a bit more skin than she usually likes to show which is why she’d made sure to leave the house without Bellamy seeing her. He’s going to blow a gasket when he sees her. But it’s okay. Echo said that all the girls would be in similar costumes and she didn’t want to be the only one left out so she’d gone with it. She tugs at the hemline of her sparkly green dress and straightens her shoulders as she walks into the first room, looking for Echo and the other girls.

She finds Echo, Gaia, Emori, Josephine, and Clarke standing near the bar and her heart drops. Not a single one of them is dressed as sexy fairy tale characters. In fact, all of their costumes are quite tame versions of fairy book characters. She feels tears beginning to well in her eyes when Echo looks up and sees her before she snickers, nudging Emori and Gaia. Octavia tells herself not to let them see that she’s upset as she turns slowly to find the bathroom. As she passes others she realizes that none of the girls are dressed as scantily as her. Why would Echo do this to her? What was the point? Why make a fool out of her? What did it accomplish?

She finally makes it to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. As she slides down to sit on the floor with her back against the door, the tears begin to fall. She’ll fix her makeup once she’s done. It’s fine. She rests her head on her knees as she cries. Every time she thinks that she’s being accepted by all of the girls one of them pulls a stunt like this and she tries to laugh it off, not let them know just how much it bothers her but sometimes it’s just too hard. Like right now. As she forces herself to take a few deep breaths to calm down she recalls Clarke’s words about not trusting the others. So far Clarke has been right and yet Octavia just keeps trusting them anyway.

A quiet knock sounds at the door causing Octavia to scramble up off the floor. “Occupied.”

“Octavia? Can I come in?” It’s Clarke’s voice that filters through the door. “Please?”

Octavia hesitates for just a moment before wiping the tears from her eyes and slowly opening the door to let Clarke in. Clarke takes one look at her before shaking her head and hugging her. “Let me guess. Echo?”

Octavia nods as she pulls away, turning to the mirror to see the damage to her makeup. “Who else?”

“I know this won’t make you feel any better, but she did the same thing to Emori last year and Gaia the year before that.” Clarke shakes her head as she takes Octavia’s hand and leads her to sit on the closed toilet seat. “Here I’ll fix it for you. I’m sorry. Echo gets off on other’s pain.”

“Then why do you hang out with her?” It’s something that Octavia has always wondered.

Clarke laughs. “Oh, I don’t. _Josie_ hangs out with her because sometimes my sister can be the same exact way. _I_ hang out with Josie because she’s my sister and I love her, even when she is being a bitch.” Clarke pulls out the makeup that Octavia has in her bag. Within moments she steps back. “No one will ever know that you cried.”

Octavia stands and makes her way to the mirror and sure enough, she looks just like she did when she walked into the party, maybe even better than she had. “Thanks, Clarke.” She reaches down and adjusts the short, tight dress again and straightens her shoulders, watching as her wings move with her. “Too bad I stand out like a sore thumb at the party.” 

Clarke comes to stand beside her. “Well, first I just want to say that you make one _very_ hot Tinkerbell.”

Octavia laughs. “Well, I guess that makes me feel at least a little better.”

“Good.” Clarke pauses. “But I think we might be able to make you feel more than just a little bit better.” She begins to dig around in the bathroom drawers.

“What are you doing?” Octavia raises her eyebrows as Clarke holds up a pair of scissors in victory.

Clarke just grins as she begins stripping out of her Rapunzel dress. Once off, she takes the scissors to the skirt, cutting it to where it will hit high on her thighs. Then the sleeves come off and then Clarke is pulling the dress over her head once again. She adjusts the dress so that her cleavage is on display, nodding at her reflection as she turns back to Octavia. “Much better. You didn’t think I was going to let you be the center of attention all on your own looking that hot, did you?”

Octavia laughs, pulling Clarke in for another hug. “Thank you, Clarke. I mean, you didn’t have to ruin your dress, but I appreciate it.”

When Clarke pulls back she is still grinning, linking her arm through Octavia’s as she opens the door. “Be prepared for lots of stares, Octavia. Because we look _hot_. And don’t mind Josie, she’s probably going to lose her shit when she sees me. Also, next time that one of the other girls says we’re doing something, check with me first. I’ll let you know if it’s true or not.”

Octavia nods, head held high as they walked back into the party. Clarke was right. They are getting a lot of stares, but now she doesn’t view that as a bad thing. She’s proud of how she looks as she walks beside Clarke. As they approach the other girls it looks like Josephine’s eyes are going to pop out of her head and Echo shakes her head as she wrinkles her nose.

“What the hell did you do to your costume, Clarke?” Josephine hisses to her sister.

Clarke shrugs as she looks down at herself. “I think it looks better like this.” Her eyes turn to Echo. “And since _some_ people don’t know how to tell the truth I figured why the hell should O have all the fun looking this good?”

Josephine shakes her head, sighing. “I thought we were going for classy this year. If I’d known we wanted to be trashy I would’ve worn another costume.” She turns to look at Echo. “Do _not_ do this again. We are not children. Act your age.” She turns back to face Clarke and Octavia. “You _do_ look hot and if I’m honest—I’m a little jealous.”

“Oh no, Josie. You look _amazing_ ,” Octavia gushes. “You were made to be Elsa. That dress looks amazing on you.”

Josephine smiles. “I know, but it’s nice to hear.”

“What the hell are you wearing O?” Bellamy suddenly appears beside them, eyes wide and face bright red. “Or more like what the hell _aren’t_ you wearing.”

Clarke rolls her eyes. “Oh boy, big brother overreaction once again.”

Bellamy’s head swings to her, looking her up and down. “Well, at least I know where she got the idea.”

“Shut up, Bell. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Octavia steps up into her brother’s face, shoving against his chest.

“Don’t bother, Octavia. Your brother is just a dick.” Clarke loops her arm through Octavia’s once again. “Your sister looks amazing, Bellamy. She’s not a child. You need to learn to let go and let her grow up.” Without a backward glance, she begins to lead Octavia to the dance floor.

Octavia, on the other hand, does look back. She laughs when she sees her brother standing there dumbfounded. Serves him right. She turns her attention back to Clarke as they begin to dance.

* * *

Raven stands in the doorway of the room, watching as Bellamy yells at Octavia and one of the girls she is standing with. The blonde says something to him before leading Octavia out to the dance floor while Bellamy stands there gaping after them. She laughs when his eyes meet hers and she shakes her head. 

Bellamy frowns at her as he stalks over to her. “Did you see that? Did you see what she’s wearing?”

Raven leans around him to take a look at the girls on the dance floor. “Who? Octavia or the blonde? Cause they both look amazing.”

“Raven!” Bellamy roars at her. “She’s practically naked.”

Raven smirks as she first looks over his Gladiator costume and then at her own Morticia costume. “Pretty sure neither of us can say anything about that seeing as we aren’t covered much more than she is. You don’t even have a shirt on Bellamy.”

“It’s different, Raven!”

“Why? Because she’s a girl? I really hope that’s not your reason because if it is I’m going to knock you on your ass.” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“Uh—I mean of course not!” Bellamy shakes his head. “You know I don’t think like that Raven. She’s only 14. Do you see how these people live?”

“Yes, I do. As I’ve seen how you live now. They’re rich. You’re rich. I’m poor and I’m jealous. What does that have to do with how Octavia is dressed?” 

Bellamy sighs, wiping his hand over his face. “She’s too young. She shouldn’t be out partying and drinking, getting wrapped up in all of this.”

“We were drinking and partying at her age, Bellamy. Do you want to try again?” Raven shakes her head when he can’t seem to come up with a response. “She’s not a kid anymore. Suck it up, buttercup. Now, why don’t you introduce me to your new friends before you piss me off any more than you already have.”

Bellamy opens his mouth like he’s going to continue trying to argue with her, but when she glares at him, he raises his hands in surrender. “Lincoln couldn’t make it tonight, but Miller should be here somewhere. He’s supposed to also be dressed as a gladiator so he should be pretty easy to find.”

They both turn their attention back to the room and she sees Finn across the room. Shit, she had been hoping to put off this moment for at least most of the night. Yes, she knew it was his house, but she couldn’t exactly tell Bellamy _why_ she didn’t want to go to a party at Finn Collins house—a guy that she wasn’t even supposed to know. 

Finn’s eyes meet hers at that exact moment and she forces herself to keep her face blank, but panic flits across his own for just a second. When he turns away to continue talking to the buff guy dressed as Thor she tries to keep herself from being hurt. They’d agreed at the beginning that they would keep their relationship on the down-low, neither of them wanting to hear shit from their friends about dating someone from the other side of town. It was all too much drama. But it does hurt and that sucks. She wishes that she cared less, but at least now she knows.

“Ha! There he is.” Bellamy grabs her hand and pulls her further into the room.

She looks ahead and sees the back of someone else dressed as a gladiator and assumes that this must be the infamous Miller that Bellamy is always going on about.

“Miller!”

The boy turns around, grins when he sees Bellamy and Raven. “Oh! Are you Raven?”

Raven returns his smile, extending her hand. “Raven Reyes. And obviously you’re Miller.”

Miller shakes her hand. “Don’t bother asking what my first name is. Bellamy has been trying since we met and I refuse to tell him so I can’t tell you either.”

“Yeah, I don’t care enough to try and find out. But know that if I wanted to I could find out.” Raven shrugs, a smirk on her lips. “I don’t know if Bellamy told you or not, but I’m a genius.”

Miller laughs. “I like you, Raven.” He turns to face Bellamy. “I saw your sister. I can’t believe you let her out of the house.”

“She snuck out,” Bellamy grumbles, glancing at Raven and wisely chooses to keep his mouth shut after that.

“I also saw that you and Clarke had _another_ run-in.” Miller shakes his head. “I don’t understand why the two of you can’t just get along.”

“Is Clarke the blonde?” Raven leans over, lowering her voice. When Miller nods she grins. “She’s hot. Seems like a badass. He does spend an awful lot of time complaining about her. Maybe he has the hots for her.”

“I do _not_ have the hots for Clarke Griffin,” Bellamy blurts out, and as his face flushes Raven realizes that he’d probably said that a lot louder than he’d meant to. “I don’t think I like the two of you knowing one another.”

“Too late. I’m keeping her.” Miller smiles, taking a drink from his cup before frowning. “Damn it, I’m out. I need a drink. What about you two?”

“Yes, I am in desperate need of a drink. Otherwise, I won’t make it through the night.” Bellamy sighs dramatically.

Raven shakes her head. “Nah, I’m good. I think I’m going to go dance. Say hey to O and meet Clarke.” 

“But-” Bellamy starts to say something, but Raven is already walking toward the dance floor, lifting her hand in the air in goodbye.

It takes her a minute to find Octavia, but when she does the younger girl lets out a squeal. “Raven!” She throws her arms around the Latina. “I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you, too, Little Blake.” She pulls back and whistled. “And you are looking _good_.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Clarke holds her hand out. “Clarke Griffin.”

“Raven Reyes. Best friend of Bellamy Blake who I hear is your archnemesis or something.” She can’t help her laugh when Clarke scoffs.

“I would have no problems with Bellamy if he would just get the stick out his ass.” 

“I knew I was going to like you. Now, who wants to dance?” 

They dance for what feels like hours, but since she isn’t wearing her watch Raven can’t say for sure. “I need a bathroom break.”

Clarke nods, pointing down the hallway. “That’s the closest bathroom. There will probably be a line so I’d head upstairs. There’s like three up there.”

Raven nods, pretending that she doesn’t know exactly where the bathrooms are. She waves goodbye to the girls and heads up the stairs. She had been here just the night before so she heads for the bathroom that she knows is least likely to be in use at the moment, the one that’s at the very end of the hallway right by Finn’s bedroom. She knocks lightly before turning the knob, glad that there is no one inside.

She locks the door and once she’s finished going to the bathroom she looks at herself in the mirror. This costume had been a great choice. She looks amazing. The black dress leaves most of her shoulders bare, revealing just enough cleavage. It hugs her body and the slit stops at mid-thigh and the three-inch heels she has on are killing her feet, but they made her legs look on point. She does a quick makeup and hair check before throwing the door open.

Coming out of his room is Finn. They both stare at one another in shock for just a minute before Finn is rushing over to her and pushing her back into the bathroom. “What the hell are you doing here, Raven?”

Raven shakes out of his hold. “Bellamy Blake? My best friend that I’ve told you about? Well, he goes to your school and he asked me to come with him. I didn’t even know it was your party until this morning. What was I supposed to do? Tell him I couldn’t go to the party at my secret boyfriend’s house?” She stands with her hands on her hips as she watches him.

“I don’t know, make up an excuse? Say you’re sick? Something.” Finn is angry and it’s causing Raven’s anger levels to rise as well.

“I think lying by omission about our relationship is enough lies in my friendship.” Raven starts to step around him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to get back to.”

“You need to go home.” Finn grabs her arm, squeezing.

“And you need to fuck off. You do _not_ own me and you most _definitely_ don’t get to tell me what to do.” Raven jerks her arm free, shoving Finn backward into the wall before slamming the door open again.

“Raven!” Finn calls after her. “Look, I’m sorry.”

Raven chooses to make her raised middle finger her only response. She will not put up with him being a dick. If this was who he was when he was around her rich friends, maybe they didn’t need to be in a relationship. As she heads down the stairs she sees Bellamy and Miller standing by the bar and she beelines for it. She _really_ needs a fucking drink now. 

* * *

Josephine closes her eyes as she loses herself in the music, arms raised as she dances. She’s just bordering on the line of being tipsy and this is one of her favorite feelings—just toeing the line of the feeling of losing control. She feels bodies moving around her, but she ignores them. For once she just lets herself worry about herself and how she is feeling and not how others are viewing her.

Her eyes pop up when a hand roughly grasps her arm, pulling her away from the dance floor. They land on the culprit and her mouth drops open in shock. What the hell is he doing there? She’s so shocked that she doesn’t even try to stop him as he drags her across the room towards the front door. 

Once they reach the foyer she finally gets over her shock, digging her feet in as she pulls against his hold. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“We need to talk.” Gabriel slowly turns to face her and she can’t read his expression. There’s something off, but she can’t tell if he’s mad or what, but he doesn’t relinquish his hold on her arm.

Her brow wrinkles in confusion as she looks up at him. “I haven’t seen you or talked to you in, what? Five months? Then you just show up at a party that’s not even at my house and try dragging me from it? What the hell is going on?” She once again tries to yank her arm from his hold, but he just tightens his grasp.

“I told you, we need to talk.” Gabriel tries to pull her out the door, but Josephine finally manages to pull her arm free. “So then talk. We don’t need to leave to talk. And as you well know, I am _not_ a fan of being manhandled. So maybe this wasn’t the best way to get me to talk to you?” She lifts an eyebrow at him as her head tilts to the side and she allows herself to take him in for a moment.

Gabriel Santiago had been her first love. They’d met when she was a freshman and he was a junior. She’d done what she’d sworn she would never do and fallen head over heels for him pretty much from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. He was so different from her and from every other guy she’d ever met. He was smart and had no problems with everyone knowing. They had burned bright, but that had meant that they’d crashed hard. They’d dated on and off over the next two years but often ended their relationship for weeks at a time following a blowout fight. 

In June, following his graduation, he’d told Josephine that he couldn’t do it anymore. That they were wrong for each other. Love wasn’t supposed to be this way. They were hurting each other too much and he’d informed her that he was going to South America for the summer to work with Habitat for Humanity, leaving the next day. He’d said that since he was starting college at Arkadia U in the fall he thought it was best that they have a clean break now because it was obvious that this relationship wasn’t meant to be.

Josephine had remained stoic, refusing to let him see how hurt she’d been. She’d let him think that she didn’t care, but as soon as he’d left she’d collapsed on the floor in tears. She’d thought that he was the one person that truly understood her, that understood that she wasn’t who she pretended to be. She’d loved him with everything in her and he’d just left her. She’d collected herself when she’d heard Clarke come home and she’d calmly informed her that she and Gabriel were over. It was for the best. She was too young to be tied down. It had all been lies, but she hadn’t wanted Clarke to worry. That summer had been one of the hardest of her life.

“I don’t think this is a conversation you want to have _here_ ,” Gabriel spits out the word as if he is disgusted, pulling Josephine from her memories. It’s the first thing that he’s said that’s made her worry because she can hear the anger simmering in his voice.

Josephine puts her hands on her hips as she watches him, shaking her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you so if you want to talk then we do it here.”

“Fine.” Gabriel laughs, but it’s a bitter sound. “Is it true, Josie?”

“Is what true?” Josephine doesn’t even have to pretend to be confused. She has no idea what the hell he’s talking about. 

“Is it true, Josie?!” Gabriel roars as he steps closer to her, pulling his phone out and shoving it in her face. “Is whoever the hell this is, telling the truth?”

Before Josephine can even read the text message that Gabriel is trying to show her another alert goes off on his phone as does her own and on phones of those all around her. She pushes Gabriel’s phone out of her face, pulling her’s from her pocket and clicking on the notification. She freezes as she stares at the tweet. How did they know? How did they find out? She’d been so careful. 

Josephine looks around, seeing all of the eyes on her and she forces herself to take a deep breath. She lifts her head, straightening her shoulders as she heads for the stairs that lead upstairs. She has to keep it together, she can’t let any of them see her fall apart. She ignores their stares and their whispers as she walks calmly up the stairs.

“Jos?” Gabriel’s voice is no longer filled with anger, but with confusion.

She doesn’t stop to answer him. She knows that he’ll follow because she knows him as well as she knows herself. She’s not going to let anyone else see her fall apart. She has a reputation to think of. She will not let them see how much this hurts her, because she wants them to think that nothing can touch her. They’ll call her an Ice Queen and she’ll smirk. She’ll eat it up. She’ll love it—or at least she’ll pretend that she does.

Behind her, she hears Gabriel finally realize that she’s not going to stop to answer him as he begins to stumble his way up the stairs. There are tears in her eyes as she reaches the top of the landing, heading to the first door off the hallway. She’s been here a million times, but she can’t even think of what room it is. It honestly doesn’t matter. She just needs to get away from the prying eyes. She pushes open the door and realizes that it’s a guestroom that she’s definitely made use of before. She doesn’t bother to shut the door behind her as she heads towards the bed.

She sits down on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms around herself as Gabriel comes into the room, pushing the door shut behind him. She finally lets the tears fall, her body beginning to shake with sobs as the pain radiates through her. This was something that she’d locked away deep inside after it had happened and she has refused to think about it because it hurts too much. Now all the pain, all the anger, and the frustration are ravaging her again. She can’t think straight. 

Gabriel hesitates for a moment before rushing over to her and wrapping her in his arms. They don’t speak as she cries into his chest, finally releasing some of the pain that she’d locked away all of those months ago. She clings to him like he is her rock because he always has been. She’s missed him, something she has not admitted to anyone since their breakup—not even herself. This is not the way she’d expected him to come back into her life, but she has always known that he would. They’re drawn to one another and a little bit of time and distance has done nothing to change that.

Josephine doesn’t know how long they sit like this, but eventually her tears slow and she knows that she owes him an explanation. He deserves to know. He deserved to know back then, but he wouldn’t take her calls so she hadn’t been able to tell him. As she remembers this she grasps onto her anger, an emotion she is much more comfortable with. She jerks out of his arms and off of the bed. 

“Josie?” Gabriel’s voice is quiet as he stays sitting on the edge of the bed. 

She wants to laugh because he still knows her so well, but she bites down on that as she closes her eyes. Anger. That’s what she needs to feel. Nothing else. When she spins to face him she is sure that the anger is flashing in her eyes. “What right do you have?”

“What right do _I_ have? Really? That’s what you’re going to go with?” Gabriel settles back onto the bed, eyes never leaving hers. 

Fuck him and his smug face. “Yes, that’s what I said. Who do you think you are? Crashing a party and trying to drag me away? Maybe if you would’ve answered one of the calls or texts back then you’d already know the answers you’re demanding.”

Gabriel’s face softens as he continues to just watch her. “I was trying for a clean break, Jos.”

“And I was trying to tell you that I was pregnant!” Josephine screams as she stalks over to him. “Do you know what it’s like to be all alone and find out you’re pregnant at 16? No, of fucking course you don’t. You wouldn’t take my calls. Clarke was away at her art seminar and Mom was lost in her pills. I was _alone_. And you wouldn’t take my calls.”

This time Gabriel does move, reaching out towards her but she jerks out of his reach. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry won’t work this time.” Josephine shakes her head, the pain slowly replacing the anger no matter how hard she tries to hold onto it. “You left me all alone to deal with. I had to make this decision on my own. Do you know how hard that was?” Tears fill her eyes again as she struggles to control her emotions.

“No, Jos. I don’t,” he speaks quietly as he moves towards her and she knows that he’s afraid that she’ll spook. And she doesn’t even blame him. She has a hard enough time keeping herself balanced when she isn’t dealing with such a high mix of emotions. “I could never know what you went through—not unless you tell me.”

“You don’t deserve to know!” Josephine beats at his chest as he wraps his arms around her and she wants to struggle, but she doesn’t have it in her. She melts into his arms where she still feels safe—like he can protect her from anything. She knows that he can’t, but it’s a nice feeling—one that she’s missed. 

“I know I don’t.” Gabriel kisses the top of her head. “But maybe you need to tell me.”

Pulling away from him hurts, because she knows that this is where she belongs. She just wants to stay in his arms, but she knows that she can’t. She breaks away from him and crawls up onto the bed, eyes on him as he follows her to sit on the edge again. “I hadn’t been feeling well for a month or so before your graduation, but I just chalked it up to the stress of you graduating and not knowing what was going to happen. I could feel you pulling away from me.” Her smile is wry. “I guess I knew what was coming, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

Josephine holds up her hand when he starts to speak. “Let me get through this, please.” At his nod she continues, “Clarke left a few days after you and that’s when I realized that something else was going on. I was throwing up every day at that point and I had no energy. Being pregnant never even crossed my mind. I went to the doctors and they asked if it was possible and I said no, but then I realized that it was possible. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had my period. You know I was never good at keeping track of that.” She laughs to herself, a bitter sound. “Maybe if I had been I would’ve realized it before or maybe suspected. The test came back positive—obviously. I spent a week in bed trying to reach you, but you didn’t answer. I couldn’t tell anyone else. Clarke was off enjoying her summer and it’s not like I could tell my mom—even if she wasn’t high off her ass.”

Josephine bites down on her lip, clamping down once again on her emotions. She needs to get through this without losing it again. She can do this. “After a week I realized that I couldn’t be a mom—especially not without you and you obviously didn’t want anything to do with me so I made an appointment at Planned Parenthood in a city two hours from here. I didn’t want to go somewhere that I could be recognized. I booked a hotel room for three days and drove down. I took an Uber to the clinic and I almost changed my mind. That was _our_ baby growing inside of me and at some point, during that week, I’d fallen in love with it.” She closes her eyes against the tears threatening to fall. She can’t cry again. She takes a deep breath but keeps her eyes closed. “But then I thought about how you’d told me that I can’t even take care of myself when we’d broken up and I realized I’d be dooming my child to having a mother like mine and I couldn’t do that.”  


Josephine opens her eyes slowly to find Gabriel’s eyes on her, tears running down his face. She can’t stop the tears that begin to roll down her cheeks again as she looks at him. “I spent three days down there, alone, and it was miserable. I was in so much pain—physically and emotionally. But on the fourth morning, after I checked out of the hotel, I locked it away. I never thought about it. I couldn’t.” She stops, unsure of what else there is to say. She’s bared her heart and soul to him.

“I’m sorry isn’t enough.” Gabriel reaches for her hand and she lets him take it. “But I _am_ sorry. I’m sorry that you had to go through this in the first place. I’m sorry that you were alone and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. If I could change things-”  
  


“But you can’t,” Josephine cuts him off as she shakes her head. “What’s done is done and there’s nothing that we can do to change that. It’s over now.”

“I know.” Gabriel’s eyes lock on hers. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Josephine laughs, the sound wet with her tears. “Gabriel, what would I be forgiving you for? You didn’t know.”

“For breaking your heart and leaving you alone. I need you to forgive me. Please.” His words are pleading as he leans over and grasps her face in his hands.

She looks at him for a moment through her tears before she shakes her head. “I forgave you a long time ago.” She shrugs. “You know I’ve never been able to stay mad at you.”

“You’re too good to me.” He leans forward until his forehead is leaning against hers. “I still love you, Jos.”

Josephine smiles through her tears. “I’ve never stopped loving you.”

When their lips meet they’re both wet from their tears and it’s just a quick kiss. As she pulls away Josephine meets his eyes again. “I can be better. I can be the person you want me to be. I know I can.”

Gabriel shakes his head, adament. “You don’t need to change for me, Jos. I love you for who you are. I might not always agree with the things you do, but I fell in love with you knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. I’m sorry I ever made you feel like you weren’t good enough.”

“Does this mean that we’re back together?” Josephine doesn’t like how timid she sounds, but she wants this more than anything else in the world.

“If that’s what you want, it’s what I want.” Gabriel lets out a sigh of relief when she nods. “We’ll do better this time. I’ll tell you when I don’t think something is right instead of holding it in. You’ll let me know if you need anything from me. This time we _actually_ communicate, okay?”

Josephine nods before she snuggles into his side. She knows that they need to get back to the party soon as she’s going to have to deal with the backlash of that tweet, but for now she just wants to be held.

* * *

**November 1, 2020**

Clarke wakes slowly, pushing her sleeping mask from her eyes as she looks around trying to figure out what woke her. Her phone dings again, telling her she has a new message and she rolls her eyes. She hates it when she forgets to put her phone on silent. She likes being able to sleep in on the weekend and somehow she _always_ gets woken up by her damn phone. She grabs it off the nightstand seeing that it’s just after 9. Why is someone bothering her so early? Her friends were all at the party with her last night so they should all be sleeping. 

When she sees that it’s a message from Lexa she almost throws the phone across the room but decides against it. Her phone has done nothing wrong. She should just ignore it, but as she stares at the phone her curiosity gets the better of her. Lexa had taken her at her word last month when she’d told her that she wanted nothing to do with her. It had been radio silence since then so why is she bothering her now?

  


Clarke stares at the screen for a moment, trying to decide what she wants to say. She’d been furious the night before when she’d read the tweet about her sister. For just a moment that anger had been directed at Josephine because she’d kept such a big secret from her, but then she’d remembered that she’d kept her sexuality a secret from Josephine so who was she to judge? Then she’d been furious at whoever it was that was releasing their secrets to the world. What kind of person did something like that? She hadn’t been able to find Josephine after the tweet until she’d seen her leave the party with Gabriel. She’d decided that she would talk to her later since they obviously had a lot to talk about.

Her phone dings again, drawing her attention back to the present.

  


Clarke takes a deep breath, telling herself to calm down. If it hadn’t been Lexa who had outed her is there really any reason to be mad at her? She wasn’t lying when she’d told her that she missed her. And she does love her. She bites down on her lip, looking at her phone as the screen darkens, unsure of what she should do. 

When her phone dings again she swipes the screen expected another text from Lexa, but instead it’s a notification from Twitter. 

Clarke stares at the screen in disbelief. That couldn’t be true, could it? There’s no way that Lexa was seeing both her and Costia at the same time. She’d told Clarke that she and Costia had ended things when Costia the previous year, Costia had told Lexa that she didn’t want to be tied down her last semester before graduating. As far as Lexa had told her they hadn’t had any contact since the breakup.

When Lexa’s picture lights up the screen Clarke hits ignore. She doesn’t trust herself to speak to her. She’s not sure what she’ll say and she doesn’t want to completely lose her shit on Lexa.

Clarke sees red. There it is again. Lexa blaming everything on her because she wasn’t ready to come out. She’s done. She’d been so close to forgiving her and taking her back. She still hates the person that released hers and Josephine’s secret to all of Twitter, but a small part of her is thankful that this last post was made so that she didn’t make a huge mistake.

  


Clarke quickly blocks Lexa’s number and deletes their messages before turning her phone off. It’ll just blow up with more people commenting on her life and she isn’t in the mood to deal with it right now. She climbs out of the bed and heads towards Josephine’s room. She knocks lightly and when she hears Josephine call out she pushes open the door.

Josephine is sitting up in her bed, phone in hand when she looks up and sees Clarke standing there. She frowns as she pats the bed. Clarke crawls in beside her sister and they lay on their sides facing one another, holding hands. “How are you Clarkie?”

Clarke laughs. “I’m fine. Lexa is the person that you always said she was.” She shakes her head. “But I don’t care about that. Are you okay?”

Josephine nods slowly. “I will be.” She looks sheepish when she pauses. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“No. That doesn’t matter. I understand why you didn’t. I mean I’d abandoned you when you needed me most. Of course, you didn’t tell me.”

“That’s not it.” Josephine squeezes her hand. “I just couldn’t think about it let alone talk about it. It hurt.”

Clarke nods. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, Jos.”

“Thank you. Maybe later when it’s not so fresh?” Clarke can hear the pain in Josephine’s words and knows that she was right not to push her to talk about. But she is confused when Josephine suddenly smiles. “Gabe and I are back together.”

“Really?” Clarke forgets about their issues for a moment as she is genuinely happy for her sister. Josephine and Gabriel might fight like cats and dogs, but they also balanced one another. Clarke had expected that they would’ve gotten back together by the end of summer and was surprised when Josephine had said that she hadn’t talked to him since their breakup. It seems like at least a few good things had come out of the asshole posting about them online.

Before either girl can speak again the door is thrown open to reveal a very pissed off looking Abby. Her eyes are glazed over and Clarke knows that it’s from pills and not from just having woken up like she would pretend it was. “The two of you are going to be the death of me!” Abby storms into the room to glare down at them. “Can you imagine what your dad would think? One of our girls pregnant at 16? And she had an abortion and now the whole world knows about it? He would’ve had a hard attack.”

Clarke won’t listen to this again. She sits up to glare at Abby. “Well, can you imagine how disappointed he’d be in _you_ ? One daughter was having a crisis about her sexuality while the other had to go through being pregnant _alone_ before deciding to have an abortion? Where the hell were you? That’s what he would be asking. He’d be asking why you didn’t know any of this was going on. What were _you_ doing to not see it? I’m sure that he’d have loved to hear that if you weren’t at work you were high off of pills that you get your subordinates to write you prescriptions for. He wouldn’t recognize you.”

Clarke pulls herself off the bed and walks over to Abby. “ _You’re_ the one that he’d be disappointed in—not us. We’re teenagers. We make mistakes and it’s expected. But you’re an adult who didn’t even know what the hell was going on with her daughters. You’re the disgrace.” Clarke can’t hold it in any longer. It’s been over five years since her dad had died and it was Abby’s favorite thing to throw in their faces when she didn’t like something that they had done—what would your father think? And enough was enough. 

“And do you know why we miss dad so much, _Mom_ ?” Josephine’s words were hard and bitter. “Because he _actually_ gave a shit about us. Do you know what he would’ve done? He wouldn’t have run in here to yell at us about how we were disgraces. He would’ve run in here to hold us, to tell us that everything would be okay, and to make sure that _we_ were okay. _That’s_ what it means to be a good parent. Not this.”

Abby stands there for a moment, looking between the two of them. Clarke isn’t sure if she can’t believe that they’re talking to her this way or if it’s just because she’s too high to understand. Finally, she seems to shake herself and Clarke watches as she straightens her shoulders and lifts her head—a true Griffin woman trait—before turning and walking out of the door without another word, but Clarke can see the tears in her eyes.

Clarke turns to face Josephine and they both grin. “So how long until you think she’ll be back to yell at us again for talking to her like that?”

“I don’t even care. Now come back here and cuddle.” Josephine once again pats the bed beside her. “We need to figure out who the hell is trying to ruin our lives by releasing our secrets to the whole world.”

Clarke settles beside her again. “I just don’t understand why anyone would do this to us.”

“Because they’re jealous, Clarkie.” Josephine sighs as she lays on her back to look up at the ceiling. “It’s the reason for most things. They want what we have so they figure if they take us down they can have it. Too bad they’re wrong. We’re not going anywhere and we’ll figure out who it is. I know we will.”  
  


Clarke wishes that she felt as confident as Josephine, but all she really hopes for is that whoever did this is done. She’s not sure how much more upheaval she can deal with in her life. She’s not as strong as Josephine. Too much more and she’ll break—she knows it. She just wants this to be done with and as she listens to Josephine plot she just hopes that this was the last one. She knows she’s lying to herself, but she has to believe that it’s over. That they’ll leave them alone. Her eyes fall shut as Josephine’s voice lulls her and she lets herself relax enough to fall back asleep.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> November brings old faces and Thanksgiving drama. Along with more secrets revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I hope that you're still enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I just finished the social media edits for chapter 6 and started writing chapter 7 so I realized I could totally update again. Yay! 
> 
> Now for those of you who have seen the ep, know that I am a clown who is deep in denial. But even if it turns out to be 100% true and it's not going to get fixed, I still plan to be around for a long while writing fic. I have so many ideas still that it's not even funny so I hope that there are still people around that plan to keep reading!
> 
> Moodboard by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) can be viewed [ HERE ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8bd62559f961510210b7daf424f0e4af/94c54c19b580b33d-ae/s500x750/6db66b5261319340e49fafa67199b16cf14b5b3a.jpg). But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) for some art to go with the fic which you can see [ HERE](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/post/627966436600643585/requested-for-t100fic-for-blm-by). Please check it out and give her all the love that she dserves.
> 
> On the topic of The t100 writers for BLM initiative I (and many other talented writers and creators) are currently taking prompts in exchange for donations to a BLM cause. Please check out [the tumblr page here](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) to see what we're all about. We currently have an event going to hopefully help us reach our extended goal of $2500 by the finale so please come and prompt us!

**May 24, 2021**

She sits in front of the TV not really seeing it as her mind drifts off to the last few days. She still doesn’t remember what the hell happened and it’s driving her crazy. Forgetting events is bad enough, but forgetting days leading up to murder? Yeah, not great for her mental health.

_“Breaking news. A body was found this morning at The Empire. The name of the victim is not yet being released as the family is still being notified, but the police suspect foul play. We will keep you updated as details become available.”_

Her eyes shoot up and she can feel herself beginning to shake. They found him and they’ll be coming for her soon. She just knows it. She pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs as she begins to cry. She can’t do this. She should’ve just gone to the police and told them what happened.

“Hey, shhh. It’s okay.” A pair of petite arms wrap around her as the couch dips down beside her. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

She turns her head to look to the other girl as the tears continue to fall down her cheeks. “How can you say that? You can’t make me that promise.”

“I can and I will.” The other girl hugs her tightly before pulling back to look her in the eye. “We’ll get our story straight now. We were together all weekend. I will tell anyone who asks that you were with me all weekend.”

“You can’t lie for me.”

“Yes, I can. You came home from prom in the early hours of Saturday morning. You and I decided that we needed a weekend in after the mess of prom. So we stayed in and had a girl’s weekend.” The other girl pauses, watching her for a moment. “Repeat it back to me.”

She shakes her head. “It’ll never work. Someone had to have seen us—seen me.”

“Repeat it back to me. Repeat it until it’s second nature. This _will_ work and I _will_ protect you.”

She starts to shake her head again but lets out a sigh when the other girl just stares back at her. She can’t do this but knows that the other girl won’t let it go until she does what she says. “I came home in the early hours of Saturday morning. We were exhausted so we decided to have a girl’s weekend in.”

“Again.”

“I came home in the early hours of Saturday morning. We were exhausted so we decided to have a girl’s weekend in.”

“Again.”

* * *

**November 23, 2020**

Clarke sighs as she sits in front of the school, back against the wall as she watches her friends. This is one of the few times she hates attending Arkadia Prep. Most schools get to have the whole week of Thanksgiving off, but here they are on the Monday before Thanksgiving at school. Not to mention that they had classes tomorrow. It was so stupid. What was the harm in letting them have a whole week off? It’s not like it would hurt anything. 

“Clarke!”

Clarke’s head jerks up, not believing her ears for a moment. But there he is. She’s on her feet, sprinting towards him and throwing herself into his arms before she even has time to think about it. “Wells!” Her arms loop around his neck as she hugs him, his arms going around her and picking her off before spinning her in a circle. Once her feet are back on the ground she grins as she looks up at him. “When did you get back?”

“Yesterday.” He rolls his eyes. “Dad wanted me to stay home for the week and go back after Thanksgiving, but I told him that if my friends had to be in school today then so did I.”

“You’re an idiot. I’d have stayed home.” Clarke rolls her eyes at him, but her smile never falters. She has missed him so much. Thelonius Jaha, Wells’s dad, had to go to China to put out a fire in his company over the summer—the details were still fuzzy to her because honestly, she didn’t care. Thelonius had brought Wells with him so that they wouldn’t have to be apart since he hadn’t known how long he would be gone for. She hasn’t seen him in over six months which is the longest they had ever gone without seeing one another since they were a year old. Wells had been her first friend besides Josephine and she knew that they’d be best friends for the rest of their lives. 

“I had to see my bestie, didn’t I?” Wells loops his arm around Clarke’s shoulders and as they begin to walk towards their friends. “And all these other losers of course.”

“Who are you calling a loser, Jaha?” Murphy smirks as he claps Wells on the back. “Glad to have you back.”

“Oh joy, Wells is back to bestow his moral objections to our lifestyle once again.” Josephine rolls her eyes before grimacing as Clarke elbows her. “Jesus, Clarke.”

“Be nice.”

“It’s fine, Clarke. Josie and I tolerate one another for you.” Wells raises his eyebrows at Josephine who just grins at him. “We don’t have to actually like one another.”

“Thank fucking God for that.” Josephine pauses before nodding to Wells. “At least now Clarke will have someone else to pester about her problems.”

“Thanks, Jos.” Clarke shakes her head. “Love you too.” 

“Jaha.” Roan nods at Wells from where he is leaning against the wall. 

“Roan.” Wells doesn’t move, but Clarke can see their eyes locking for a moment longer than necessary.

“Seriously?” Clarke hisses as she elbows Wells in the side. “That’s _still_ a thing? Even after six months of you being gone?”

Wells shrugs as he grins down at her, his eyes flicking towards Roan for just a moment before coming back to rest on her. “What can I say? I love him.”

Clarke’s smile is sad as she shakes her head. “I know you’ve seen what’s been going on here even if you haven’t been here. Nothing is staying a secret right now. You guys might want to get it out there before someone else does it for you.”

Wells’s phone goes off and all around them, Clarke can hear the notification sounds of her friends’ phone as well. Shit. She is frozen in fear for just a moment as she watches Wells looking at his phone. The color drains from his face and she wishes she hadn’t said anything. Why did she have to speak it into the world? Pulling out her phone her worst fears are confirmed.

  


She glances back up at Wells to find his eyes elsewhere. Following his line of sight, she finds herself looking at Roan who is visibly pissed as he shoves his phone in his pocket. As the bell sounds she grabs Wells’s hand. “We could ditch. There’s no reason to be here this week. The teachers will just give us busy work anyways.”

Wells shakes his head. “No, I won’t let some anonymous internet bully ruin my first day back here.” His eyes meet hers once more. “So everyone knows that I’m gay? What do I care? They know I’m with Roan? Good.” Without another word, Wells walks over to Roan and grabs his face between his hands and kisses him for everyone to see. And it’s no chaste kiss either, even from here Clarke can see that tongue is involved. 

Clarke grins to herself. This is why she loves Wells so much. He is the best of them and always has been. She rushes over to him and grabs his arm. “C’mon lover boy, we don’t want to be late. I’d hate for you to get detention on your first day back.”

Both Wells and Roan are grinning as they pull apart. “Yeah, that would suck wouldn’t it?” Roan laughs as he leans over and presses another kiss to Wells’s lips. “Not quite how I thought this day was going to go.” 

“Can’t let you get too comfortable now can I?” Wells grins as he links his arm through Clarke’s. “See you at lunch.”

Clarke glances behind her as they start to walk away, watching as Roan shakes his head but he’s still smiling. Wells has that effect on people. He’ll surprise the hell out of them, but always leave them with a smile. She hates that this was the way that he was outed—hates that someone is still trying to ruin their lives by releasing their secrets, but damn is she glad to have him back. And so glad to see a smile on both his and Roan’s faces.

* * *

**November 25, 2020**

“Girls, I need to talk to you,” Abby’s voice carries down the hallway.

Josephine turns to Clarke, rolling her eyes at her. “Wonder what fresh hell she has planned for us now?”

Clarke giggles as she tosses her phone onto the couch beside her as Abby steps into the room. Josephine lets out a sigh as she watches her mom come to sit across from them. Things had been better between the three of them since the incident when she and Clarke had called out their mom. She doesn’t trust it, because Abby has always been known for her mood swings, but it makes Clarke happy so she was trying.

“Girls, I wanted to let you know that I’ve been seeing someone.” Abby pauses and looks between Josephine and Clarke, Josephine guesses that she is trying to gauge their reactions. She fights to keep her face blank. Better to have no reaction than the wrong reaction.

“Seriously?” Clarke leans forward as she watches her mom. “Since when?”

Abby gives them a small smile. “For a few months. I didn’t want to say anything until we were sure that it was going somewhere. And we think it is so I’ve invited him and his family to join us for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Josephine roars as she jumps up off the couch. “I have plans for tomorrow. You can’t just spring this on me the day _before_.”

“Josephine Ada Griffin, you watch your tone when you’re speaking to me.” Anger flashes in Abby’s eyes and it makes Josephine happy. Good, let her be mad. Join the fucking club. “Now, as I was going to say you can invite whoever you would like to join us, but both of you _will_ be here to meet Marcus’s family tomorrow.”

“Marcus? As in Marcus Kane? As in dad’s best friend? Are you serious right now, Mom?” Josephine rolls her eyes. This was just like Abby. Josephine genuinely didn’t care that her mom was dating. Their dad had died years ago so Josephine understood that she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone—that makes sense. But Marcus? The guy that she’d grown up calling uncle? That was _not_ right and she did _not_ approve.

Abby sighs as she sits back, eyes never leaving Josephine. “I knew that you would react like this. Can you not act like a drama queen for just a moment, please?”

Clarke grabs Josephine’s hand and pulls her down to sit back on the couch beside her. “Honestly, Mom? I feel like Josie’s reaction is spot on. You can’t expect us not to be shocked that you’re dating dad’s best friend. We’re going to have feelings about this, whether you like them or not.”

Abby’s eyes soften as she turns to look at Clarke. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just want tomorrow to go well. I’m nervous about it.”

“Fine.” Josephine closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She’s always loved Marcus—it’ll just take some getting used to seeing him as a man that is dating her mom. Her eyes shot open when she realized that they already know Marcus’s family and she lets out a laugh. “On the upside Mom, we already know Marcus’s family.”

“Oh?”

Clarke nods. “We’re friends with Octavia and her brother Bellamy is in a few of our classes.”

“Well, that’s good. That should make this easier.” Abby lets out a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry I waited until today to tell you, but I knew that this could be hard for the two of you to accept so I kept putting it off. I meant what I said, invite whoever you’d like. The more the merrier.” Abby shoots them one last smile as she stands before leaving them alone.

Josephine grabs her phone and starts texting Gabriel to let him know of the change in plans.

“Who are you texting?” Clarke looks over her shoulder.

“Right now? Gabriel. I have to complain to my boyfriend. That’s one of his boyfriend duties—listening to me complain. But once I’m done with that I’m inviting everyone.” Josephine rolls her eyes at Gabriel’s response. He’s such a nerd, he’s lucky she loves him.

  


Clarke lets out a nervous laugh. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to invite everyone?”

“We were all planning to get together anyway, right? Might as well have them all over here. They can play buffers to the awkwardness that is going to be tomorrow.” Josephine opens up the group chat and starts typing.

  


A few minutes later she glances up at Clarke, grinning. “See, no big deal. We’ll all play one great big family for Mom and Marcus’s sakes. But I’m going to need a _lot_ of alcohol to get through this.”

“Okay, Jos. I’ll make sure you have access to plenty of alcohol.” Clarke laughs. “I mean, is it really that bad that she’s dating Marcus? I mean, we love him. So there’s no awkward getting to know mom’s new boyfriend stage. And we already know O and Bellamy so that helps.”

“Does it really?” Josephine raises an eyebrow at her sister. “Sure, we know O and we like her. But Bellamy? When was the last time either of us had a civil conversation with him?”

Clarke shrugs and if Josephine isn’t mistaken she seems to be blushing slightly. Well, isn’t that interesting. “Well, I mean there’s a first time for everything, right?”

“Sure, Clarkie.” Josephine nods her head slowly. The chances of her and Bellamy having a civil conversation was slim to none. His holier than thou attitude grates on her nerves and she may or may not purposefully say things that she knows will piss him off. 

“You have to at least try, Jos. For Mom.”

Josephine has to fight the urge to roll her eyes. “Fine, Clarkie. I will _try_ , but I make no promises.”

Clarke grins at her. “That’s all I can ask.”

“Hey, girls. I forgot to tell you.” Abby sticks her head into the doorway. “The Jahas are coming too.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. Wells already told us.” Clarke smiles as their mom nods and ducks back out of the room. “It’ll be fine. Most of our friends will be here. We’ll have fun.”

Fun, right. Josephine sighs at Clarke’s naivety. Tomorrow will be anything _but_ fun. But she would try for Clarke and for her mom. And the massive amounts of alcohol she planned to indulge in.

* * *

**November 26, 2020**

“Do I _have_ to go, Marcus?” Bellamy knows that his voice is verging on whining, but he _really_ doesn’t want to go to the Griffins for Thanksgiving. “Those girls are nothing but trouble.”

“They are not, Bell. _You_ just don’t want to give them a chance.” Octavia sticks her tongue out at him from behind Marcus’s back and it’s all that Bellamy can do to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

Marcus lays a hand on Bellamy’s shoulder. “I’ve known those girls since they were born, Bellamy. You’ve got them all wrong. Sure, Josie can be a little prickly, but she’s got a good heart. And Clarke is a joy.”

“Yeah, right. Like she _has_ a heart,” Bellamy mutters under his breath.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t catch that.” Marcus’s hand tightens on his shoulder.

Bellamy shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Marcus nods as he drops his hand. “Good. We’re leaving in ten. I’m sorry that you had to cancel your plans, but it’s getting serious between me and Abby so I want you to meet her. And this will give you a chance to get to know the girls outside of school. You’re going to need to get used to them being around.”

Bellamy waits until Marcus walks away before rolling his eyes. Today is going to be hell. Octavia has already told him that practically all of Josephine and Clarke’s friends are going to be there. He was supposed to be spending the day with Miller and Lincoln at the Miller house—with his actual friends. He’d begged Raven to come with him, but some new friend of hers had invited her out of town with them for the weekend. So really, the only two people that are going to be there that he can stand are Marcus and Octavia. Should be a _wonderful_ time for him. 

He keeps his thoughts to himself as he follows Marcus and Octavia to the car, even letting Octavia have the front seat while he texts his friends complaining about how awful the day is going to be.

  


Bellamy scoffs. He doesn’t know why he thought they’d understand his pain. He’d forgotten for a moment that they loved Clarke Griffin—just like every other person on this planet apparently except himself. Oh, but Raven would be supportive—even if she likes Clarke. She’s known him for longer so he will _obviously_ be her favorite and he can give her a hard time for ditching him.

  


“We’re here.”

Bellamy shuffles out of the car, annoyed with Raven and everyone in general. He shoves his phone in his pocket as he takes in the decadence of the Griffin house. He’d thought their house was big, but it has nothing on the fucking _mansion_ that the Griffins live in. The large circular driveway is packed with cars, but not just any cars. Only the best and most expensive for the Upper East Siders. God, he really hates it here.

“Bellamy?”

Bellamy looks away from the cars to find Marcus and Octavia waiting for him at the base of the stairs leading up to the front door. Oops. He hurries over, reaching them just as Marcus is knocking. The door is opened within seconds by a butler—who the fuck has a _butler_? Bellamy manages to turn his scoff into a cough as Marcus shoots him a dirty look. He holds his hands up in surrender as a beautiful middle-aged woman appears beside the butler and Bellamy can easily tell that this is Abby Griffin who is just as beautiful as her daughters. Hopefully, she’s a little bit nicer than they are.

“Marcus!” Abby leans over and kisses Marcus’s cheek before turning to him and Octavia. “Hi, I’m Abby Griffin. You must be Bellamy and Octavia. I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

Bellamy had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. She was trying too hard, but he could understand that. She wants to make sure that they like her. He takes her outstretched hand and shakes it briefly, barely getting out of the way before Octavia is sweeping her into a hug.

“We’re so happy to meet you too.” Octavia pulls back and laughs at the surprised look on Abby’s face. “Sorry, I’m working on remembering personal boundaries. I just like hugs.” She shrugs. “Do you mind if I go in and find Clarke and Josie?”

Abby shakes her head. “They’re all in the parlor.” She steps to the side and gestures for them to come inside. “I’ll show you where they are and then I’ll steal Marcus away to chat with myself and Thelonius. Leave you guys alone and away from prying adult eyes.”

Honestly, Bellamy would rather go with the adults and is about to say so, but a look from Marcus has him snapping his mouth shut. He follows behind his sister and Marcus as Abby leads them further into the house. He can hear them before they arrive at the _parlor_ —what the hell is a parlor anyway? 

He takes a deep breath as Abby steps to the side to allow them through the doorway, wincing only slightly when Octavia lets out a squeal before running into the room. “Thank you, Ms. Griffin.”

“It’s Abby.” She gives him a small smile. “Let Josie or Clarke know if you need anything, okay? We’ll be in the dining room.” With that, she and Marcus leave him standing alone in the doorway.

Bellamy turns to look inside the room and he so doesn’t want to be there. He sees bottles of alcohol open on the bar and can’t believe that they’re drinking with their parents a few rooms away. They aren’t even trying to hide it and he doesn’t know if he should be shocked or if he should admire their gall. He sees a small fridge behind the bar and heads for it, hoping that he can find a soda in there. 

Bending over he looks inside and is grateful to see that there are in fact sodas. He just doesn’t feel comfortable drinking with Marcus there. He grabs a soda and jumps when he stands up, seeing two people standing there. He knows their names just because they had been all over social media this week and Octavia wouldn’t shut up about them.

“Bellamy right?” Wells asks with a smile.

Bellamy nods slowly, not sure why he’s talking to him. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’m Wells Jaha and this is my boyfriend, Roan King.” Wells is still smiling, but his eyes are watching him carefully.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Bellamy holds his hand out and shakes each of theirs, noticing when Wells’s shoulders loosen. He wonders why he was so tense about speaking to him. Maybe he was afraid of how he would respond to the fact that he has a boyfriend? Guess he doesn’t know that Miller is one of his best friends.

Wells nods to his soda. “Not a big drinker?”

Bellamy laughs. “Not when my guardian is in the same house.”

“Abby prefers to think that if she lets the girls and their friends drink in the house while she’s here that they won’t do it when she’s not.” Wells’s laughter fills Bellamy with warmth. There’s something about this guy that he immediately likes. “Little does she know how wrong she is.”

“Wells thought that we should come to talk to you since you don’t know anyone here.” Roan isn’t looking at him as he speaks, eyes roaming the room instead—which is annoying to say the least.

Great. So they’re here because they pity him. Just what he needs. “It’s not necessary. I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”

“Well, of course, you can.” Wells rolls his eyes. “I haven’t gotten a chance to meet you and I wanted to. I’ve heard good things.”

Bellamy can’t help his snort of laughter. “From who? My sister? Because I’m pretty sure all she does is talk shit about me to her friends.”

Wells gives him a funny look. “No. From Clarke. She’s my best friend. Has been since before we can even remember.”

“Clarke? As in Clarke Griffin?” Now it’s his turn to give Wells a funny look. Why the hell would Clarke be talking about him? And saying nice things. That didn’t track with their interactions.

“Talking about me I hear?” Clarke pops up beside Wells with a smile. “It’s good to see you, Bellamy. How are you doing with all this nonsense?” She waves her hand in what he assumes is the direction of her mom and Marcus.

Bellamy eyes her suspiciously, not sure why she’s being nice to him. She has no reason to be. It’s not like he’s ever been remotely nice to her. He wonders what game she’s playing.

Clarke laughs as she rolls her eyes at him. “So suspicious, Bellamy.” She shakes her head. “I’m not my sister, you know? I know she can be a lot to handle and your first impression of her wasn’t great, but we’re not the same person. I’m my own person and if you’d take the time to get to know me you’d know that.”

And if that doesn’t make him feel like shit, because she’s right. He has judged her based mostly on her sister’s actions and the rumors that he’d heard. He hadn’t wanted to like her so he hadn’t and that wasn’t fair to her. Damn it. “Look. I-”

Clarke holds up her hand to cut him off. “Save it. I don’t care. What’s done is done and we’ll just move on. How’s that sound?”

“Like you’re a much nicer and better person than me.” Bellamy smiles because he can’t help it. Maybe everyone wasn’t so wrong about Clarke and maybe he should’ve listened sooner.

“Excellent!” Clarke claps her hands together. “Then I have something I want to show you.”

Bellamy can’t help the look he gives her as his suspicions rise once more, eyes narrowed. Maybe he’d been right about her all this time and this was her way to pay him back. What does she have planned for him?

“Wow, you are a suspicious one, aren’t you?” Wells laughs as he wraps his arm around Clarke’s shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know why you want to be friends with him. He’s kind of an ass.”

“Didn’t you hear, Jaha?” Clarke grins up at him. “I have a thing for assholes, kind of like you.” She nods her head towards Roan. “This is why I’m friends with him and Murphy. Assholes are my people.”

Wells nods. “That tracks. Except me. Why are we friends again?”

“Because I need to have at least one nice friend and you like assholes too.” Clarke turns back to Bellamy. “I’m not taking you off to kill you or anything. I just want to show you something that I think you’ll like.”

Bellamy finds himself nodding slowly. He’s still not sure that he trusts her, but can _everyone_ really be wrong about her? It’s an argument he’s had with himself in the past. Every time he’s an ass to her and sees the hurt on her face he’s wondered if she really was the person that his friends claimed that she was. Well, he has to give her a chance, right? And if it turns out that he was right then he can rub it in Miller and Lincoln’s face. “Sure.”

Clarke smiles as she grabs his hand, pulling him from the room. Bellamy glances down at their joined hands as warmth spreads up his arm. He tilts his head as he looks at her as she leads him down the hallway and up the stairs. He’s always thought that she was beautiful, but his beliefs that she was a terrible person made him force down his attraction. If she’s not such a bad person what does that mean for that? Because his body _very_ much likes the fact that she’s touching him and that’s disconcerting. 

She stops outside of a set of double doors that are pulled shut. “Are you ready?” Her voice is laced with excitement which makes him even more curious.

“Yes.” 

Clarke drops his hand as she reaches out and slides the doors open, stepping back to allow him to enter. Bellamy is sure that his jaw drops as he walks into the room which is lined from floor to ceiling with bookshelves on every wall—all of which are full of books. He spins around, eyes wide before turning back to Clarke who is smiling up at him. “Holy shit.”

“See, I knew you were a nerd.” Clarke shrugs as she ducks her head, looking up at him through her eyelashes. 

“And how would you know that?” This isn’t an accusation—not this time. He’s genuinely curious. How had she figured this out about him when people that he’d gone to school with for years had never realized that fact?

She shrugs again, bashful. “I pay attention. The debates that we have in class? You’re always passionate about whatever it is we’re debating. So ya know, nerd.”

Bellamy smiles as he takes her hand and squeezes. “I really am sorry. I never even gave you a chance.”

“You’re not the first and I doubt that you’ll be the last. I’m used to it.” Clarke doesn’t meet his eyes as she speaks and it makes Bellamy feel even more like an ass. He has acted just like the people that he claims to want to be nothing like—judging someone without all the facts. 

He reaches down without thinking, finger lifting her chin so that he can look her in the eye. “That doesn’t make it alright. Can you forgive me?”

Clarke’s smile is slow, but she nods. “Of course.” She steps back slightly and he lets his hand fall back to his side. “Come here, I need to show you my dad’s prized possessions.” She nods towards a bookcase in the corner. 

Bellamy follows her over to find an entire bookshelf of nothing, but first editions. “Are you serious?” His finger runs along the spines as he reads the titles. “Holy crap.”

“You can look at them you know.” Clarke is laughing as she watches him. “Just be careful. They are old.”

“No, I think I’ll just look from here. I’m not going to be responsible for damaging a first edition of Faulkner’s stories. Thanks, but no thanks.” Bellamy shakes his head adamantly, not even caring that Clarke was laughing at him. “So does this mean that you’re a nerd too then? You get pretty worked up during those debates too.”

“Nah, I just like debating. It’s in my blood.” Clarke leads him over to the desk that is set up not too far from the wall of books that they stand next to. She nods to a picture on the desk. “That’s my dad. Debate champion at Arkadia Prep.” 

Bellamy leans down to look at the picture and he can see the resemblance. “What was his name?”

“Jake.” Clarke gets a faraway look in her eyes.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.” Bellamy finds himself reaching out to her, hand on her arm.

Clarke laughs as she shakes her head. “You didn’t. I mean don’t get me wrong, I miss him every day. But honestly? I was just thinking about how much he’d love you. He always wanted someone to geek out with him over his books. I was always more into art and Josie—well Josie was more into Josie.”

“Sounds like he was an amazing guy.” Bellamy gives her a small smile.

“He was the most amazing guy and dad that there was.” She turns her head away for a moment before looking back at him. “Well, since you won’t touch the first editions why don’t we check out some of the others. There’s like a million books in here.”

And that’s how Bellamy finds himself spending nearly an hour chatting with Clarke Griffin and geeking out over the variety of books in the library. He really can’t believe just how wrong he was about her. 

* * *

Murphy lets out a sigh as he sinks into his chair. He really doesn’t want to be here, but it’s better than if he was sitting at home alone drinking he guesses. And by home, he means the rooms he keeps at The Empire because his actual home stopped being home shortly after his dad died and his mom became a raging alcoholic. He looks to the other side of the table as Bellamy sits down directly across from him. Oh good, someone to give a hard time to. He was getting a little bored anyway.

“So, Blake. Saw you sneak away with Clarke, you guys having a torrid affair now?” Murphy grins as he leans forward.

“Murphy! Seriously?” Clarke hisses at him from her seat next to Bellamy.

Murphy shrugs. “Just calling them as I see them, _princess_.” He glances at Bellamy, smirking when he sees the other boy tense up. God, he loves stirring up shit. 

Clarke glares at him. “Shut up or I will shut you up, _John_ ,” Clarke hisses.

Well, Jesus. She’s being a buzzkill today, isn’t she? Murphy sighs, loud and exaggerated as he sits back in his seat and brings his glass to his lips. He takes a long sip, enjoying the liquor as it hits his tongue. The one good thing about Abby is that she has no qualms letting them drink—as long as they don’t try to drive afterward. Which of course they knew better. It’s not like they didn’t all have drivers at their beck and call. No reason to take a chance like that when they don’t have to.

His eyes go to Clarke, watching as she leans over to whisper with Bellamy and his eyes narrow. When did they get all buddy buddy? And since when did she stand up for him? Murphy isn’t sure that he likes it. He’ll find out what’s going on soon enough. It’s not like Clarke keeps secrets from him—well except for the whole Lexa thing. But honestly, he really can’t blame her for that one. He’d have kept a relationship with Lexa a secret too. Then again he can’t stand her so that’s really a moot point—well that and the fact that she’s kind of a bitch. 

Abby stands up as the last of the food is set onto the table. “I want to thank all of you for being here today. It means the world to me, Clarke, and Josie that you’ve all joined us today. I’m thankful that we can make this day about families joining together.” She glances at Marcus who smiles back at her. “Whether that’s found family or family by blood. I’m just glad that we can all be together today.”

Josephine gags, causing Echo and Octavia to laugh, but Abby just shoots her a dirty look. “Thelonius, would you mind leading us in prayer?”

Murphy rolls his eyes. This day is going to be absolute hell. Clarke and Josephine better love the hell out of him for being here. He would’ve been better off if he’d stayed at home by himself. He takes another sip from his drink, eyes catching on Clarke, who was making faces at him. Fuck her for trying to cheer him up. He can’t fight the smile that slowly spreads over his lips. Who the hell is he kidding? He loves Clarke. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her. And fuck her for that because she fucking knew it. He rolls her eyes at her as the others say, “Amen.”

As they begin to pass around their platters of food Murphy’s phone goes off and shortly after so do the other teens’. Fuck. Another secret maybe? Well, fuck it. Since his phone went off first, it’s probably about him. He wonders what lovely skeleton they pulled from his closet. There were plenty of things that he’s done that aren’t exactly public knowledge—things that his family name has gotten him out of.

He sets down the platter that he was holding and pulls his phone from his pocket. He sees Echo lean over and whisper something to Josephine who snickers as they look at their phones. Great. He pulls up his notifications and feels lightheaded. Of all of the things to be released this is the one thing he would’ve preferred stayed a secret.

  


He doesn’t care if anyone knows he slept with a teacher—hell, he’d love to brag about that. But this particular situation had not just been about him sleeping with a teacher. Thank God they hadn’t been able to find out the rest of the story. 

“Can’t you kids be without your phones for even one hour?” Thelonius was obviously annoyed, but no one was paying him any attention. 

Roan leans over to Wells who is sitting on Murphy’s left side. “See, I told you that Murphy cheated for those grades. There’s no way he’s that smart.”

“Shut up, Roan,” Wells hisses as he digs his elbow into Roan’s side as he turns to Murphy, apology written all over his face. 

“Of course, Murphy slept with the hot teacher.” Josephine cackles. “Honestly? I’d be disappointed if you hadn’t.”

Murphy can’t take it anymore. He stands up so quickly he knocks over his chair. He doesn’t even know where he’s going, he just knows he has to get the hell out of here. 

“C’mon Murph! No one cares that you slept with a teacher. Why the hell are you freaking out?” Roan calls after him as he heads for the door.

“You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about so shut the fuck up!” Murphy roars as he spins around to face the table once again. He can’t seem to catch his breath. He’s losing it and he knows it, but he doesn’t know how to stop it. He clenches his jaw before turning around to storm out of the room again. 

He doesn’t make it very far when he feels a small hand on his arm. He tries to shake it off. He needs to get the hell out of there. He’s gasping for breath and he feels like he’s going to pass out. He continues to head for the door, but suddenly Clarke is there in front of him. She presses her hands to his face and he can tell that she’s saying something, but he can’t hear what it is over the sound of his own ragged breathing. 

He focuses on her lips, trying to figure out what she’s saying and it somehow calms him—the focusing on something else. He manages a long, deep breath and then another.

“Murph, are you okay?” Clarke is repeating over and over. So that’s what she was saying. Huh. 

Was he okay? No, no he doesn’t think that he is so he just shakes his head. He knows that he can’t speak. Hell, he can barely breathe. Clarke frowns, but takes him by his hand and leads him upstairs. He follows her without paying attention, but when she pushes open a door he realizes that they’re in her room. It’s been a while since he’d last been in here. He lets her lead him to the bed, sitting where she tells him to. 

“Match your breath with mine, Murph.” Clarke’s hands are back on his face and she’s forcing him to look at her. Not that he minds. Clarke is nice to look at it—even though blondes have never really ever been his thing. It takes him longer than he wants to admit, but eventually his breathing is under control and if this was anyone other than Clarke he might feel embarrassed. But the two of them have been there for each other’s worst moments.

“You wanna talk about it?” Clarke’s hands drop to her side, but she remains facing him.

Murphy takes another deep breath. “About what? The fact that I slept with my teacher? Or that I had a panic attack in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner?”

“I get the feeling that the two have something to do with one another.” Clarke doesn’t say anything else, just sits there patiently waiting for him to speak. 

“She made a fool of me, Clarke.” Murphy looks down at his hands, picking at one of his cuticles. “She told me a sob story about her abusive husband who didn’t even like her. At first, I just listened, because she seemed like she needed someone to talk to. Although looking back why the hell would a teacher talk to a student about that? Jesus, I’m an idiot.”

Clarke takes his hands into hers. “You’re anything but an idiot, Murph, and you know it.”

“She said he hit her and she was afraid for her life. It was months before we even slept together. By then I was in love with her.” Murphy laughs a bitter sound. “And I thought she was in love with me. She told me she was pregnant and it couldn’t be her husband’s. They hadn’t slept together in months. I didn’t even hesitate. I told her that I’d take care of her. I’d help her get away from her husband.” He runs his hands through his hair. “So I gave her money and she left overnight with no word. Left the school. The city. Turns out there was no husband and no baby. She was just after my money—which she got.”

Clarke hugs him, wrapping him up in her. “You can press charges. You’re a minor.” 

“No.” His response is immediate and definitive as he pulls away from her. No one else can know. No one else can find out his shame. “I don’t want anyone else to know. They can think what they want about me sleeping with a teacher, but they can _not_ find out the truth, Clarke.”

Clarke nods. “Okay.” She pauses for a moment as she considers him. “This happened at the end of last year, didn’t it?”

He nods. “How’d you know?”

“Something was off, but you wouldn’t tell me what it was. Then you went off for the summer. When we got back you seemed back to yourself and I didn’t want to bring it up.” She shrugs. “Should I have?”

“No. If this hadn’t come out I probably wouldn’t have told you.” He shakes his head. “Sorry, I just didn’t want anyone to know.”

“I understand, but maybe if you had talked to someone you wouldn’t have had a panic attack?”

He shrugs. “Maybe. Did the others see?”

“No, I threatened to murder anyone that followed me.” Clarke’s smile is hesitant, but he returns it without hesitation.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite.” He leans over and presses a kiss to her forehead. “But seriously, thank you, Clarke. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that you’ll never have to find out.” She stands up, holding her hand out to him. “Come back to dinner?”

Murphy takes her hand as he laughs. “No, I don’t think so. I think I’m done with being around people for the day. I had my driver wait in case I needed to make a quick getaway. I’ll just head back to my rooms and entertain myself.”

Clarke sighs, but nods. “I understand, but I don’t like it. Promise me you won’t go home and get smashed?”

He holds up a peace sign. “Scouts honor.”

“You idiot.” Clarke laughs as they head back downstairs. “We both know that you were _not_ a scout and I’m pretty sure that’s not the right sign for that.”

He shrugs. “Eh, who cares.” They finish their descent in silence and Clarke opens the door for him. “Thank you, Clarke.” He pulls her in for another hug, kissing the top of her head.

“Anytime, Murphy. You know that.” Clarke smiles up at him as he pulls away. 

He nods before heading out towards where his driver is waiting. He knows he’s lucky to have Clarke in his life because what she says isn’t just something to say when someone is upset—she means it. He nods to his driver as he jumps out of the car, hurrying around to open the door for him. He climbs in and wonders what kind of person could release secrets for no other reason than to cause chaos. He’s been known to use a secret to his advantage—as in blackmail. But just for shits and giggles? That takes a very sick person and he’s going to figure out who the hell it is and when he finds out he’s going to make them pay.

His smirk is firmly in place as he looks out the window, revenge on his mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> December brings the Winter Formal, new couples, and feelings admitted. Who's secret will be revealed this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Welcome to the 4th chapter! I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to comment on this fic. You don't know how much it means that you take your time to tell me what you think. Also, thank you to those of you who have left kudos and to everyone reading this. This chapter has less drama and angst than some of the others. And chapter 7 is now complete. Something to look forward to—chapter 6 and 7 have more visuals for you guys. As done this one. 
> 
> Moodboard by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) can be viewed [ HERE ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8bd62559f961510210b7daf424f0e4af/94c54c19b580b33d-ae/s500x750/6db66b5261319340e49fafa67199b16cf14b5b3a.jpg). But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) for some art to go with the fic which you can see [ HERE](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/post/627966436600643585/requested-for-t100fic-for-blm-by). Please check it out and give her all the love that she dserves.
> 
> On the topic of The t100 writers for BLM initiative, I (and many other talented writers and creators) are currently taking prompts in exchange for donations to a BLM cause. Please check out [the Tumblr page here](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) to see what we're all about. We've reached our extended goal of $2500 by the finale, but any and all prompts received by the 9/30 are still able to submit theme and trope suggestions. So is there a fall fic that you'd like to read? A fix-it that you want to be written? A song that you want GIFed that breaks your heart? Come prompt us!!

**May 25, 2021**

  
  
  
  


She turns her phone off in disgust. She can’t keep reading about this—obsessing over it. She really has no idea what the hell she’s going to do. Why can’t she remember what happened? She closes her eyes and all she sees is Finn’s face. Fuck. She throws her phone across the room, watching in satisfaction as it bounces off the wall. 

She jumps up from the bed and grabs the lamp off the bedside table, rips the cord from the wall and launches it across the room. The sound of it smashing against the wall makes her smile. She begins picking up anything that she can and launching it across the room—the remote, a compact, her brush. Thankfully she’s home alone and no one can interrupt her. 

She knocks over her bedside table, realizing that she is crying. Why is this happening to her? Hasn’t she had to deal with enough this year? If she could just remember what happened, it would make her life so much easier. She remembers being at prom and then... nothing. She doesn’t think that she killed Finn, but if she didn’t do it then who did? And _why_? Yes, Finn was, but that isn’t reason enough to kill someone.

She shoves everything off of the dresser, letting out a frustrated scream. She knows that the police will be coming to question her soon. They’ll question all of her friends too, because they had been _his_ friends. She is mad at herself for not knowing where she was for two days, not knowing if she _killed_ someone. A shiver runs through her body at the thought. There’s no way that she killed someone. Even not knowing what had happened—she knows that she couldn’t have killed someone. Not unless it was to protect herself or someone else that she loved. But if she was protecting herself, did that still make her murderer?

She slams her hands onto the dresser, eyes flashing up to the mirror. She doesn’t recognize herself. Her hair is a mess, her eyes seem to be permanently rimmed in red. Her skin is splotchy and her eyes are crazed. Is this her life now? Is this how she is doomed to spend the rest of eternity? Not being able to remember two whole days of her life and how someone was killed— _while_ she was there. She’d been covered in his blood; she had to have been there. Unless she’d found him like that. 

She just doesn’t know and she doesn’t know how to handle it. She spins around and takes in her trashed room before collapsing to the floor, exhausted. She’s not sure how much longer she can do this.

* * *

**December 18, 2020**

Raven scribbles the last word on her essay with a sigh, glancing up at the clock. Good, she finished with plenty of time left. She grins, not bothering to read over what she has written before handing the papers to the teacher at the front of the room. 

“Your exams will be reviewed over the weekend, Miss Reyes. You should hear back Monday. You’re the last applicant so the decision will be made once your scores have been reviewed.” The older woman gives her a kind smile. “I’m sure you did great.”

“Oh, I know I did.” Raven grins. “Thank you.” She doesn’t wait for a response as she grabs her bag and heads for the door. Four hours of testing—that’s what is required to be _considered_ for a scholarship to Arkadia Prep. She has already turned in her transcripts and her extracurriculars—all of which will be considered with her application. Now she just has to make it through the weekend to find out if she made it in. They’d told her that they would only be accepting one new student on scholarship for the spring semester and there were at least 50 applicants, but Raven isn’t _too_ worried. She knows that she is smart and they’d be lucky to have her.

She swings open the door and ducks out, planning to make a beeline to the front door so that no one she knows sees her. She hasn’t even told anyone that she was applying for the scholarship. She wants to wait until she knows that she got in before she tells them. She didn’t tell Bellamy and she _definitely_ didn’t tell Finn. He’s been being a bit of a dick since the night of his party and honestly, she is kind of over it.

“Raven?”

Raven spins on her heel to see Clarke standing near a locker. She grins. “Hey, Clarke.”

“What are you doing here?” Clarke closes the locker and heads over to her, giving her a hug. 

The hugging thing was new to Raven. She wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with it yet, but every time she has seen Clarke she’s given her a hug so she’s trying to get used to it. She still feels awkward as she returns the hug, but she is smiling as they pull apart. “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone. I don’t want anyone to know about it until I know for sure.”

“Do tell.” Clarke raises an eyebrow, obviously intrigued.

“My mentor, Sinclair, got me a chance at a scholarship at Arkadia Prep starting in January. I was taking the entrance exams.” Raven takes a deep breath. “I’m the last one to take the exams. They’re supposed to review the exam results, transcripts, and extracurriculars for each of the 50 applicants this weekend and we’re supposed to know by Monday.”

“Raven! That’s amazing!” Clarke squealed, only reigning in her excitement at Raven’s request. “Sorry. I’m just so excited that you’ll be here with us next semester. I need someone else here who isn’t obsessed with my sister.”

Raven laughs. “It’s not for sure. As I said, there are 50 applicants in total.”

“Whatever, Raven,” Clarke scoffs. “You’re the smartest person I know, you’ve got this in the bag.”

“Got what in the bag?” Bellamy suddenly appears next to Clarke causing Raven to roll her eyes. 

Clarke’s face flushes as she glances up at Bellamy for a moment before forcing her gaze back to Raven. “Sorry.”

Bellamy glances at Clarke out of the corner of his eye, something that Clarke doesn’t notice but Raven certainly does. He can’t seem to keep his eyes off of her. She fucking knew it! Bellamy has the hots for Clarke. She called it when she first saw them together. “Hey, Clarke.”

“Uh, hey, Bellamy.” Clarke’s eyes seem to be darting all around—on anything but Bellamy. “So, uh. Yeah. It was really good to see you, Raven. I’ll call you this weekend, okay? And you’ve got this!” She scurries off.

“What the hell is she talking about Raven?” Bellamy is speaking to her, but his eyes are still on Clarke as she walks away.

Raven laughs. “You seriously want to talk about that and _not_ the fact that you have the hots for Clarke?”

“What?!” Bellamy sputters as his eyes finally swing to meet hers. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do not have the hots for Clarke. I don’t know why you keep saying that.”  
  


“Because I have two eyes.” Raven rolls her eyes. “Your eyes didn’t leave her from the moment you walked up—not even when she walked away. So if you don’t have the hots for her then why are you staring at her?”

“I...uh-” Bellamy breaks off with a shake of his head. “No, you’re not changing the subject. What was Clarke talking about?”

Raven sighs. “Look, I didn’t want to tell you until I knew for sure, but I’m up for a scholarship here next semester.”

“No.” Bellamy shakes his head again. “Raven, you can’t do that.”

“Uh, yeah I can. Assuming that I get in. I’m so glad to hear how excited you are about having your best friend back at school with you.” Raven bites her tongue, trying not to let herself get annoyed with him. She knows that he has issues with this school and she knows that what he is saying has nothing to do with her—but it hurts. 

Bellamy sighs, grabbing her hand. “No, Raven. You know that’s not what I mean. Scholarship kids are looked down on here. Are you sure you want to go through all of that?”

“Yes, because it will help me get into a better college. Going to Mecha certainly isn’t going to do me any favors.” Raven shrugs. “Plus you’re here and so is O. Not to mention Clarke.” 

“Yeah, but not everyone that goes here is as nice as Clarke. You should meet her sister.” Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Talk about _crazy_.” 

Raven bites back her laughter. “Not as nice as Clarke, huh?” 

“Shut up.” Bellamy kicks at her which she easily dodges. 

Raven holds up her hands in surrender. “Look, I’m just saying that just a few weeks ago I was telling you how amazing Clarke was and that if you’d just give her a chance that you’d see that. I just want you to admit that once again I was right. And honestly, you should just stop doubting me.” 

Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Raven knows best.”

“Damn straight.” Raven glances around them, sure that Clarke is gone and no one else is around to overhear. “Look, she obviously likes you and I told you when I first met her that you had the hots for her. But like always, you ignored me. We both know I’m right.”

“I’ll admit that we’ve been hanging out a bit more now that Marcus and Abby are officially dating or whatever.” He shrugs, not meeting her eyes. “We both know she’s gorgeous and maybe now that I’ve gotten to know her I might like her.”

“Dummy!” Raven slaps his arm. “Then ask her out. She’ll say yes. Did you _see_ how she reacted when you came up? She was all blushing and babbling. Wouldn’t look at you. Classic signs that someone likes you.”

Bellamy shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. What would she ever see in someone like me?” When she starts to open her mouth he quickly hurries on. “Not to mention I’ve been out a few times with Echo. She seems nice—even if she does hang out with Josie. I owe it to her to see if there’s something there.”

“God, why are men such idiots?” Raven’s head falls back and she looks up at the ceiling as if it can provide her with some answers. Obviously it has none so her eyes drop back to Bellamy. “If you like her and she likes you then you shouldn’t continue going out with someone else. Do you think what you feel for Clarke is just going to disappear? Because I promise you that it’s not and that’s not fair to this Echo chick. You should just end it now and see where things go with Clarke.”

Bellamy considers her for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I can’t do that. I’m taking Echo to the winter formal tonight. I can’t just change my mind the night of. That’s not fair.”

“Fine.” Raven sighs, hating that he brings up a good point. She doesn’t know this Echo, but she _does_ know Clarke and she knows that the two of them could be great together. “Then you should end it with her after you take her to the dance.”

“Maybe.” Bellamy doesn’t look convinced, but Raven knows that she can work on that. 

“Just think about it.” Raven glances down at her watch. “I’ve gotta go. I promised Sinclair I’d come by after the testing so we could talk it over. I’ll see you this weekend?”

Bellamy nods. “Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Good.” Raven heads towards the door again. She can’t wait to tell Sinclair that he’d been right about what would be covered on the entrance exams. She’s sure that she’d aced them. 

Just before she reaches the door a hand reaches out and grasps her arm, jerking her into an empty hall. As she’s spun around she realizes that it’s Finn and he doesn’t look happy. “What the hell are you doing here, Raven?” He hisses as his grip tightens on her arm.

“Let me go, Finn.” Raven frowns as she tries to break his grip, but he only tightens his hold. “Seriously, Finn. You’re pissing me off.”

“And you’re pissing me off. Showing up at a party at _my_ house and then showing up at _my_ school? Are you a fucking stalker?” This is a side of Finn that she’s only seen once—at his party.

“It might not only be _your_ school for much longer,” Raven smirks at him, trying not to let him see how much his grip is hurting her. 

Finn jerks her closer so that he’s in her face. “And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I was here taking entrance exams. I’m up for a scholarship to attend here next semester.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Finn is practically foaming at the mouth and his grip only tightens as he shakes her slightly. “So being my dirty little secret isn’t enough for you now? Do you have to infiltrate my life as much as you can until I announce it to the world? Well, guess what? That’s never going to happen.”

Raven has had enough. She’s been distancing herself from him since the instance at his party and now she knows that was the right decision. He is _not_ someone she needs in her life. “For your information, asshole, this has nothing to do with you. Sinclair got me the opportunity to apply for the scholarship to help my chances of getting into a better college. And the way you’ve been acting lately? I want _nothing_ to do with you.”

Raven tugs her arm to get away from him, but he doesn’t let her go. She slams her knee into his groin.

Finn’s hold on her drops as he collapses to his knees. “You bitch.”

“Yes, I am.” Raven shakes her head in disgust. “And I’m done with you. Lose my number. Forget my name. You are out of my life. Period.” She spins on her heel and heads to the door. Fuck Finn Collins. He is not worth her time.

“Raven!” Finn calls hoarsely after her. “Raven, wait!”

Raven ignores him and crashes out the door, fuming. He better hope that he does what she says because she will _not_ forget the way he treated her. She will not put up with it and the fact that he thinks she will only pisses her off more. Now she has another reason to want to get into Arkadia Prep. She wants to rub it in his face that she’s there and it has nothing to do with him.

* * *

Josephine leans over in the mirror, applying her lipstick. She smacks her lips together before leaning back, turning from side to side. She looks damn good if she does say so herself. She turns to look at Clarke who is sitting on her bed. “How do I look?”

Clarke smiles. “Beautiful as always and you know it.” 

Josephine shrugs. “Yeah, well. It never hurts to be told.” She frowns as she looks at Clarke dressed in her pajamas. “I think you should come tonight.”

“I don’t have a date, Jos.” Clarke shrugs, picking at the bottom of her pants.

“So what?” Josephine rolls her eyes. “It’s the 21st century. You don’t have to have a date to go to a dance. You can just come with me and Gabriel.” She pauses for a moment, thinking. “Oh! Or better yet you and Murphy can go together!” Josephine grabs her phone off the dresser and starts typing a message to Murphy.

“But Jos-”

“No buts.” Josephine shakes her head, not looking up from her phone. “The dance is at his hotel so it’s not like he’s not already there.” She continues messaging Murphy, who requires no convincing at all. “Done, he’ll meet us outside the hotel.” She looks up to see Clarke making a face. “Don’t start. You’re going.”

Clarke lets out a deep sigh. “But Jos-” 

Josephine lifts one eyebrow at her sister but says nothing. 

Clarke stares defiantly at her for another moment before shaking her head, shoulder slumping. “Fine.” She gets up and heads toward her own room.

“Hurry up, Clarkie!” Josephine hollers after her. “Gabriel will be here in like half an hour. I’ll be in to help you as soon as I get dressed.” 

She smiles to herself as she pulls her dress from her closet. It’s a deep purple and when she’d seen it in the window of the store the other day she’d known she had to have it. She slips it over her head, grateful to not have to deal with a zipper and also that she can get away without wearing a bra—unlike Clarke. It fits her like a glove and she admires herself in her full-length mirror as she adds her diamond necklace, earrings, and bracelets—gifts from her mother to “apologize” for her behavior after finding out about the abortion. She looks _damn_ good. Turning her head from side to side she sees that her hair is flawless—she made the right decision to wear it down and straight with the fake bangs. She snaps a quick photo and posts it to Instagram.

  


“Jos, I need help! Please!” Clarke calls out.

Josephine laughs to herself as she grabs her bag. Hadn’t she just told her sister that she’d be there as soon as she was ready herself? She ducks into Clarke’s room to find her sister has thrown all of her dresses onto the bed. “What are you doing Clarke?”

Clarke is leaning over into the mirror as she quickly applies makeup—her hair a mess. She catches Josephine’s eyes in the mirror and frowns. “I don’t know what dress to wear. And my hair is not behaving.”

“I’ve got you.” Josephine gives her a small smile and heads to the bed. She moves material around until she finds the one she’s looking for. A pink dress covered in what looks like flower petals that looked amazing on Clarke last year when she wore it to a hospital fundraiser that their mom forced them to attend. “Got a dress picked out.” She holds the dress up for Clarke to see.

“Of course you did.” Clarke smiles at her before focusing back on her makeup. “And my hair? What are we going to do about that?”

Josephine walks over and plugs in the curling iron that sits on Clarke’s dresser. She forces Clarke to sit down on the seat before her vanity. “Relax. We have time. You finish your makeup while I do your hair, okay?”

Clarke leans back into her sister’s touch. “Thank you, Josie.” She looks over her shoulder and smiles. “Not just for the hair or the dress or even forcing me to go to the formal. Thank you for being the best sister I could ask for.”

Josephine feels tears prickling in her eyes but forces them back as she nods, hugging Clarke. “I love you, too. But if you make me cry and ruin my makeup I’m going to ruin you.”

Clarke laughs as she nods. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”

It doesn’t take them long to get Clarke ready and by the time the doorbell rings Clarke is pulling on her shoes. 

There’s a knock on the door before it opens the rest of the way. “ Miss Josephine?” Their butler, Boris nods his head as he sees her. “Mr. Gabriel is here for you.”

“Thank you, Boris.” Josephine gives the man a smile. That was one thing that her dad had taught herself and Clarke—always be nice to those that work for you. If they love you they’ll do anything to protect you. Too bad their mom never learned that lesson. But that did mean that Boris was more likely to do something that she or Clarke asked of him over their mom. “Will you let him know that Clarke will be joining us and that we’ll be right down?”

“Of course, Miss Josephine.” Boris looks between her and Clarke for a moment before he smiles. “You and Miss Clarke look beautiful this evening.”

“Thank you, Boris.” Clarke’s smile lights up her face.

Boris nods to them once more before heading back downstairs. Josephine pulls Clarke up, eyeing her critically for a moment. “I guess it’ll do.” 

“Well, thanks.” Clarke rolls her eyes. “Bitch.”

“And?” Josephine smiles as she pulls her sister over to stand in front of the full-length mirror. “Anyways, shut up. We look amazing.”

“That we do.” Clarke leans her head on Josephine’s shoulder for just a moment before straightening. “Okay, let’s not make Gabriel wait any longer.”

Josephine shrugs. “Waiting is good for him.”

Clarke frowns at her. “I thought you were supposed to be being better about that kind of stuff, Jos?”

Josephine rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m a work in progress. Let’s get a quick picture for the gram.” She nods for Clarke to have a seat, adjusting her until she is exactly how Josephine wants her. She snaps the picture and sends it to Clarke. “You post it. You don’t post enough.”

“Whatever you say Jos.” Clarke shakes her head but picks up her phone and follows her directions.

.

After Clarke stuffs her phone into her bag, Josephine heads toward the door, stopping when she realizes that Clarke isn’t following her. “Ummm, I thought we weren’t going to keep him waiting?”

Clarke seems distracted by a piece of paper as she frowns. At Josephine’s words, she shakes her head. “Yeah, sorry.” She frowns at the paper once more before crumbling it up and throwing it in the trashcan by the door.

“What was that?” Josephine looks into the trashcan as if she could read it.

“Somebody’s sick idea of a joke, I guess.” Clarke forces a smile on her face as she loops her arm through Josephine’s. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Josephine lets Clarke lead her from the room, but Josephine is curious now to know what it was that Clarke was reading. She would be the first person to admit that she’s nosey and wants to know everyone’s business—but this is different. It’s about her sister and something is _off_. She doesn’t know what yet, but she’ll figure it out later. 

As they descend the stairs her eyes land on Gabriel—the piece of paper forgotten for the moment. He looks _amazing_ in a tux, and his eyes light up when he sees her. That’s one thing that Gabriel has always been good at—making her feel like she’s the most beautiful girl in the room. 

He meets them at the bottom of the stairs, taking Josephine’s hand in his before lifting it to her lips. “You look gorgeous.” He turns to Clarke with a smile. “I hear you’re joining us tonight? Does this mean I have _two_ beautiful dates.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but Murphy is meeting us there. He’s Clarke’s date.” Josephine pulls on his hand until his attention is back on her and raises her head. Luckily he gets the hint and kisses her lightly.

“Well, I guess that’s good because honestly, I’m more of a one-woman man.” The smile he shoots at her sends a shiver down her spine.

Their relationship has been going so well since they’d gotten back together. They were obviously still a work-in-progress—they were learning to compromise and how to properly communicate. It wasn’t perfect, but she was genuinely happy. And that wasn’t something that she could often claim. 

She’s made an effort to be less cruel—even when he wasn’t around to see it. She has started putting in actual effort in school—not as much as she probably should, but her grades have definitely improved. She’s been spending less time with the crew from school and more time at Arkadia U with Gabriel which is honestly probably a good portion of the reason she’s managed to improve so much.

But they haven’t slept together since they got back together. Josephine knows that Gabriel is waiting for her to be ready and she _wants_ to be, but there is something nagging at the back of her mind. She’s afraid and she’s even admitted it to him. She knows that he’s not going to leave her because they’ve been taking it slow—in fact, it had been his idea. But she wants that intimacy. She’s on birth control again, but she had been before so that has still made her hesitate.

Looking at him as he smiles down at her she thinks that tonight might be the night. She’s been hyping herself up for weeks—even booking a room at The Empire weeks ago. She wants tonight to be the night. She wants to let go of the fear. Generally she’s fearless, so letting this fear rule her has been hard for her. She knows that if they’re careful she’s unlikely to get pregnant. She’s just so _afraid_ and she _hates_ it.

“Jos?” Clarke reaches out and squeezes her arm.

Josephine forces a smile. “I’m fine. I was just thinking. You guys ready to get out of here?”

Josephine sees Gabriel and Clarke exchange a glance, but she ignores it and them. She’s fine. Everything is fine. She takes a deep breath as she heads for the door, knowing that they will follow her.

_Show no fear. Show no fear. Show no fear._

It is her mantra as she climbs into the car. Tonight _will_ be the night. She won’t let fear control her. And she’s going to enjoy her evening. It’s the last school event of the year and she’s going to make sure that she—and her sister—have a good time.

* * *

Clarke waits until Gabriel and Josephine climb out of the car before following behind them. She takes the hand that extends before her, smiling when she realizes that it’s Murphy. “Thank you, Murphy.”

He grunts a response as he shrugs, leaving Clarke to assume that he’s uncomfortable with her gratitude. Clarke knows that he never likes to be thanked for anything—which is why she goes out of her way to thank him for everything. It’s like compliments. If you show it to someone enough maybe they’ll get used to it.

Clarke slips her arm into Murphy’s as he offers it to her. She smiles at her sister as Josephine looks over her shoulder to be sure that they’re following. “We’re coming. Go ahead and go in. Make your entrance. We’ll be there in a minute.”

Josephine narrows her eyes for a moment. “If the two of you ditch the formal I’m going to kill you both.”

“We won’t. I promise.” Clarke laughs as she shakes her head at her sister’s dramatics. She watches as they walk up the stairs and head inside before turning to Murphy. “I mean it, Murph. Thank you for escorting me tonight.”

“It’s my pleasure, Griffin.” Murphy gives her a small smile, but she can still tell that he’s uncomfortable. “Besides we can’t have a beautiful Griffin girl sitting home alone on a night like this, can we?”

Clarke knows he’s flirting—it’s what he does. But something seems different tonight—he’s looking at her differently and she doesn’t know how she feels about it. Is he interested in her? Like for real? She narrows her eyes as she looks at him. She doesn’t understand this change in him and she’s not sure that she's comfortable with it.

Murphy’s smile turns into a smirk as she continues to eye him. “You like what you see, Griffin?” He raises his eyebrows at her.

Clarke takes a moment to _actually_ look at him and if she’s honest—she does like what she sees. She’s always known that Murphy was attractive—in his own smarmy way. But when he puts on a tux it just makes him—well, hot. “Shut up, Murph. You know you’re hot. You don’t need me boosting your ego.”

“It never hurts to hear.” Murphy laughs. “And may I say that you look extraordinary tonight?”

“Thank you.” Clarke glances at the ground as she feels herself flushing. What the hell is wrong with her tonight? She’s off of her game. She hadn’t wanted to come tonight—she was sure that she would have a terrible time. But now she is glad that Josephine convinced (bullied) her into coming. It’s been a while since she and Murphy were able to spend some quality time together and they _did_ both look hot so they might as well let everyone see. 

“You ready to head in?” 

Clarke smiles as she looks back up at him. “Yeah. I’m sure that Josie has had time to make her grand entrance by now. And if we don’t head in soon she might come looking for us.”

“Probably a good call.” Murphy leads her up the stairs to the Empire, helping her with her shrug once they’re inside and dropping it at coat check. 

He leads her to the back of the lobby and down a hallway. They have to go through two sets of double doors to get to the ballroom and it’s not until they push through the second set that she finally hears the music. They pause at the top of the stairs for a moment as Clarke takes in the room. There are fairy lights hanging on all of the walls, snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and a snow machine in the corner shoots fake snow up where pictures are being taken. Honestly, it looks magical. As they begin the descent down the stairs that lead into the room Clarke’s eyes rove the dancefloor.

Her eyes land on Bellamy and Echo. They’re wrapped around one another as they dance way too close. _This_ is the exact reason she hadn’t wanted to come tonight. Her crush on Bellamy had snuck up on her. After Thanksgiving, her mom and Marcus had enacted a family dinner night and they were all required to attend. Between that and the events, they had been dragging the kids to Clarke had found herself suddenly friends with Bellamy. 

Seeing him dancing with Echo like that makes her sick.

She has always known that he is hot—there was no questioning that—and that he is smart. But she hadn’t known how _nice_ he is and that isn’t something that she finds much with her friends. They’d been hanging out after one of the weekly dinners and it had hit her—she _likes_ him—which has led to a few awkward interactions. She’s thought about telling him how she feels, but then he announced that he was dating Echo so that went out the window. 

And why Echo? Of all the girls he could be dating? She _really_ can’t stand her and the fact that she’s dating the guy that Clarke likes makes it so much worse. And Echo has been bragging out how _great_ he is. He’s a great kisser. He’s great in bed. He treats her so well. Clarke has made it a habit that if Echo starts talking about Bellamy she just walks away. She doesn’t want to hear it—she can’t. 

“Hey, you okay?” Murphy whispers in her ear as they reach the bottom of the stairs. 

Clarke just nods. “I’m fine.” 

“Liar.”

Clarke turns her head to look up at Murphy and finds he is already looking at her. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing can be done about it anyway.” Her eyes land on Bellamy and Echo again.

Murphy sighs. “Bellamy, huh?”

Clarke shrugs, not answering, but she’s sure that he can see exactly where her eyes have landed. What’s the point in lying? He’ll see right through her.

“I never had a chance with you, did I, Clarke?” 

Clarke’s eyes are wide as she turns slowly to face Murphy. “I wasn’t aware that you wanted a chance.”

“Well haven’t you ever wondered?” Murphy shrugs, not meeting her eyes.

“Honestly?” Clarke eyes him—not believing that they’re having this conversation. “No. I just never considered _us_ that way.” She pauses as his shoulders droop. “I mean, it’s not like you’re hideous or anything.” 

This causes Murphy to laugh and he finally meets her eyes. “Well, what do you say, Griffin? Why don’t we take tonight and see what we see?”

Clarke looks at him for a moment before her eyes once again venture out to the dance floor, landing on Bellamy. Why shouldn’t she? She knows that Murphy is a nice guy—no matter how hard he tries to pretend otherwise. He’s interested _and_ he’s available. And she’s not _against_ the idea per se. She’s just never thought about it. She grins as her eyes land back on Murphy. “You know what? You’re right. Let’s see.” 

“See, I always knew you were smart Griffin.” He extends his arm to her once again. “Feel like dancing?”

“Yes, I do. Thank you.” Clarke slips her arm back into his and allows him to lead her out onto the dance floor. 

She soon realizes that Murphy is a _really_ good dancer. She’s never dancing with him before. He pulls her closer, mouth brushing her ear and it sends shivers down her spine. Well, that’s new and not wholly unwelcome. Maybe there _could_ be something between them after all. She forces herself to turn off her brain. She doesn’t need to be overthinking it. She just lets herself have fun and get lost in dancing with Murphy.

They dance for what feels like hours, but Clarke has no concept of time right now. All she knows is that she needs a break—and a drink. She leans further into Murphy, pushing herself up so that her lips are next to his ear. “Drink?”

Murphy nods, leading her off the dance floor toward an empty table. “You wanna wait here and I’ll go get us some drinks?”

Clarke smiles gratefully. Her shoes may make her legs look _amazing_ , but they are not great on her feet. She slides into the chair, leaning back as her eyes slide close. She’s having a lot more fun tonight than she’d thought she would. And the possibility of her and Murphy was an interesting one. She’s warming to the idea. 

“So Murphy, huh?”

Clarke’s eyes pop open to find Bellamy sitting in the chair next to her. She just shrugs. What the hell does it matter to him? She wants to roll her eyes but manages to refrain from doing so. “We’ve known each other for a long time. We figured we’d see if there was anything there.”

“He’s a dick, Clarke.” Bellamy’s voice is bitter. “You deserve better.”

“Oh, do I now?” Clarke raises an eyebrow as she studies him. “And who’s better? You? Because you’re dating Echo.”

Bellamy shakes his head. “I’m ending it tonight. I’d already agreed to take her. It didn’t feel right ending it before the formal. There’s nothing between us.” 

“Well good for you.” Clarke smiles as she sees Murphy appear, two drinks in his hands. She takes one from him and drinks it quickly. “Ready for round two?”

Murphy glances between her and Bellamy for a moment before shrugging. He takes a quick drink of his punch before setting it on the table beside her now empty cup. “Lead the way.”

Clarke jumps up, grabbing his hand and leads him back to the dance floor. She’s proud of herself for not looking back at Bellamy to see if he’s watching her. She shouldn’t care. Just a few minutes ago she was thinking about what it would be like if she and Murphy were more than friends and now that Bellamy told her he was dumping Echo all she can think about is him. What the hell is wrong with her? 

Bellamy obviously just wants what he couldn’t have. He never showed any interest in her before tonight—did he? As a slow song begins to play, she wraps her arms around Murphy’s neck. This is _comfortable_ . Bellamy is unknown. She should want _this_ and not him but even as she closes her eyes and snuggles into Murphy her thoughts are on Bellamy.

* * *

Octavia sits at a table, picking at her nails. She is so bored. She glances over at Emori and Gaia, who she’d come to the formal with since none of them had dates. They’re both on their phones and not paying her any attention. When Gaia suggested that the three of them go to the formal together, Octavia jumped at the chance. She really didn’t that she didn’t have a date, but she thought that they’d spent the time dancing and talking. Instead, both of the other girls have been on their cell phones all night.

Her eyes wander around the room. One of the guys in her class, Ilian, asked her to go to the formal with him but she’d turned him down—which she now greatly regrets. She just didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. She wasn’t interested in dating him so she didn’t want to get his hopes up. There has only been one guy who has caught her eye since arriving at Arkadia Prep, and he was definitely in the off-limits category. Bellamy would kill her.

She smiles when her eyes land on him sitting at a table across the room with Miller and Jackson. Lincoln is talking, waving his arms around animatedly. He looks _damn_ good in a tux and she’s sure that he would look even better out of it. Why did he have to be friends with her brother?

It’s not like he has shown any interest in her and she knows that she’s a lot younger than him, but her birthday is coming up soon and she’ll be 15. So it’s not like she’s even that much younger than him. But she also knows how her brother would react. But Josephine and Clarke have been helping her plan her birthday party—the most extravagant she’s ever had—and maybe she could invite him? Get him talking without her brother hovering maybe. Who knows, maybe sparks will fly. 

“So what’s a beautiful girl like you doing sitting here alone instead of out there on the dance floor?” Octavia’s eyes fall to the seat beside her to find Finn grinning back at her.

“Well, obviously, I’m _not_ alone.” She gestures to the girls at the table. 

Finn just continues to smile at her. “Do you want to dance?”

She _does_ want to dance—just not with him. She honestly doesn’t like Finn much. She thinks he’s kind of a douche and she usually tries to avoid being alone with him. She knows he has a thing for Clarke and follows her around like a lost puppy so she’s not really worried that he’s interested in her. Her eyes land on Clarke, who is wrapped around Murphy. That’s new. She never would’ve thought that they’d hook up, but since her brother is obviously an idiot _he_ hasn’t made a move on her yet so she’s not surprised to see that someone else has. 

Octavia’s eyes flick back to Finn who is waiting patiently for an answer. Finally, she shrugs. “Sure, let’s dance.” She lets him lead her out to the dance floor and luckily the slow song ends and another uptempo song starts. She raises her hands in the air, losing herself in the dancing.

As Finn wraps his arms around her waist and tries to pull her close she lets out a sigh. So much for losing herself in the music. She pulls away and frowns at him. “How about you keep your hands to yourself?”

Finn frowns but nods. “Sure.”

Octavia allows her eyes to fall shut as she begins to move to the music again. She forgets about the people around her—especially Finn. She should’ve just come out here earlier by herself. She doesn’t know why she didn’t think about that. She’s pretty much dancing by herself anyway. Her eyes fall back open and she finds herself grinning at Finn. She’s glad he asked her to dance—it’s what she wanted to do. Sure, she would rather be dancing with practically anyone else, but he’s the one who asked so she’ll make do. 

She loses track of how many songs they dance to, but she _does_ notice just how bad of a dancer Finn is. When another slow song starts she leans over. “I really need a drink. I’m gonna go get one.”

Finn shakes his head. “I’ll get it for you. The line’s long.” He gestures to the bar where they are only serving nonalcoholic drinks. “What would you like?”

“I’ll take a Sprite. Thanks.” Octavia grins as she follows him off the dance floor, dropping into the first empty seat she finds. Her green dress is clinging to her from where she has worked up a sweat—the downfall to dancing in formalwear. She fans herself with her purse. It’s so hot. 

Octavia’s pretty sure that she hears her phone go off, but she can’t be sure with how loud the music is. She pulls it out and sure enough, she has a new alert. She unlocks it and clicks on the alert, shocked.

  


What the hell was this? So far this account has only revealed secrets that have been true so she’s sure that it’s true. 

“Here you go.” Finn is standing in front of her, offering her a glass.

“You know what? I changed my mind.” Octavia stands up, shoving her phone back into her purse. “I need to go check on Gaia and Emori.”

“Seriously?” Finn looks pissed. “I waited in line to get you your fucking Sprite and now you don’t want it?”

“Look I’m sorry.” Octavia smiles sweetly up at him, trying to figure out how to get away from him as fast as possible. “Gaia just sent me a message and said she needs me. Thanks for the dance and for getting me the drink. I’ll see you later okay?” She begins to duck around him.

Finn slams the glass onto the table causing multiple heads to turn into their direction before he grabs her arm. “Look, I’m not just some guy you can lead around like I’m a dog, alright? I know that you’ve been hanging out with Josephine and I’m sure that’s what she’s been teaching you. But you _don’t_ get to treat me like that.”

“Like, I said. I’m so sorry, Finn. My friend needs me.” Octavia forces her face to remain calm, but her heart is beating wildly. She tries to pull her arm from his hold, but he refuses to let go. “Ya know what? I’ll take the drink with me.”

“Damn right you will, fucking bitch.” Finn grabs the drink off the table and moves to shove it into her hand, but it is knocked out of his hand.

“Yeah, my sister won’t be taking any drink from you. Ever.” Bellamy’s eyes fall to where Finn is still holding her arm. “You wanna get your hands off of her?”

Finn stands there for a moment and Octavia is afraid that he’s going to try and fight Bellamy, but he just shakes his head. “She’s not worth this.” Finn drops her arm and bends over to pick up the glass from the floor.

“And maybe no one should ever take drinks from you since you seem to like to drug them,” Bellamy spits out, his anger barely reigned in.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Finn genuinely looks confused.

“Check Twitter asshole.” Octavia shakes her head before letting Bellamy lead her away. 

“Are you okay?” Bellamy wraps his arm around her shoulders.

Octavia nods. “I’m fine and while I thank you for the help, I could’ve handled him myself.”

“I know.” Bellamy nods as they approach the table where Lincoln, Miller, and Jackson are sitting. “But why should you have to when you’ve got a big brother?”  
  


“One day you’re going to have to let me fight my own battles, Bell.” Octavia lets out a sigh as her eyes land on Lincoln. How is one guy _that_ attractive? She just doesn’t understand.

Bellamy laughs. “We’ll see.” He pauses for a moment as he says hello to his friends. “Look, maybe I should take you home.”

Octavia shrugs. She _does_ want to leave, but it’s not fair to ask him to take her home. “I don’t want to make you leave. I’ll be fine.”

“I was thinking about going home,” Lincoln’s voice is quiet as he looks between her and Bellamy. “I’ll take you home if you want.”

Bellamy looks relieved. “Would you? That would be amazing, man.”

Lincoln nods. “It’s my pleasure.” Lincoln quickly says goodbye to Jackson and Miller before turning to her, offering her his arm. “Shall we?”

Octavia grins up at him, hoping that her excitement isn’t too obvious. If having to deal with Finn gets her a personal escort from Lincoln she will happily deal with that douche over and over again. “Sure. Bye, Bell.”

“I’ll check on you when I get home, okay?” Bellamy presses a kiss to her forehead before holding his hand out to Lincoln. “Thanks again, man. I’ve got some stuff to deal with here so I appreciate you taking her home.”

“No worries.” Lincoln sends him a warm smile before turning back to her. “Let’s get out of here.”

She allows him to lead her up the stairs and back into the hotel lobby before she glances back up at him. She feels so small beside him—he’s so much taller than her. It makes her feel safe. “I hope I’m not putting you out.”

He’s smiling when she glances down at her. “You’re not. Honestly, I should be thanking _you_. I hate these things but somehow I let Miller talk me into going.” He pauses. “So what happened?”

Octavia looks down at the ground as they push through the front door. “I don’t know if you saw Twitter or not, but there was a post about Finn drugging a girl’s drink—while he was getting _me_ a drink.”

“That guy is such a douche.” Octavia sees Lincoln’s hands clench before he looks back to her. “You didn’t drink it, did you?”

She shakes her head. “No, the message came through before he got back. But when I tried to leave without the drink he got really pissed and grabbed my arm. That’s when Bellamy walked up.”

“Do me a favor?” He waits until she looks up and him and nods her agreement. “Stay away from him. He’s _not_ a good guy.”

“So I’m figuring out.” Octavia shivers, realizing she forgot her coat at the hotel. 

“Oh, damn.” Lincoln pulls away from her and begins pulling his tux jacket off. “Sorry, I should’ve thought to get your coat.” He drapes the jacket over her shoulders.

Octavia pulls it around herself, hiding her grin in it as she sniffs. He smells _so_ good. “That’s okay, I didn’t think about it either. And you’re making up for it now.”

Lincoln nods. “My car is just around the corner and then we’ll get the heat going—warm you up.”

“Thanks, Lincoln.” Octavia doesn’t bother to hide her smile this time. “There haven’t been a lot of people who have been nice to me since I started at Arkadia so I really appreciate this and you.”

Octavia thinks she sees a blush rise on his cheeks, but she can’t be sure in the limited light. “Well, at least now you know that there are _some_ decent guys out there.”

Octavia nods as he opens the passenger side door for her. He really is a nice guy and now she has even more reason to be interested in him. She is so screwed.

* * *

Bellamy is dancing with Echo, but his attention is not on her. No, that is solely on Clarke. Murphy’s hands on Clarke’s waist as he holds her close, their bodies moving to the beat of the music. Jealousy bubbles within Bellamy and he knows he has no right to be jealous, but he is. He wants to punch Murphy in the face again. He wants to be the one dancing that closely with Clarke. He wants to be Murphy at this moment and that makes him simmer. He doesn’t ever want to be jealous of Murphy. He wants Clarke—that’s what it boils down to. And he has _zero_ interest in the girl he is dancing with—who is trying to dance closer and closer as he backs up.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Bellamy stops dancing as he shakes his head. 

Echo stops, confused. “We can take a break.” She shrugs, reaching for his hand.

Bellamy pulls his hand out of her reach. “No, Echo. I can’t do this-” He waves between the two of them. “-anymore. I’m sorry. I was going to wait until the formal was over, but I can’t. This isn’t going anywhere.”

“Oh don’t be like that, Bellamy.” Echo smiles coyly as her hand strokes up and down his chest. “That’s not what you were saying the other day when you were in my bed.”

Bellamy sighs, disgusted. With her and with himself. He _never_ should’ve slept with her. “No.” He grabs her hand and drops it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have slept with you when I knew that this wasn’t working.”

Echo tilts her head as she looks at him and she must not like what she sees because her eyes narrow. “You’ve got to be kidding me! So you get me to sleep with you and then you dump me? You act like you’re this nice guy-” Echo gets louder and louder. Heads turn in their direction while others back away. “-but you’re just as bad as all the other assholes. You’re _not_ better than me or _any_ of them.”

Bellamy knows that he deserves her anger, but he’s done. He walks away, ignoring her as she yells his name behind him. He knew that his ending things wouldn’t go over well, but she is making a huge scene and he wants no part of it. He heads straight to the bar to get a drink, wishing that this were a party instead of a school function so he could get something a little stronger than a soda.

Ten minutes later he’s said his goodbyes to Jackson and Miller and is heading for the stairs when Murphy steps into his path. “Where are you going, Blake?”

Bellamy tries to step around him—not in the mood to deal with his bullshit, but Murphy stops him. “I’m going home, okay? Can you please get out of my way?”

“You should go ask Clarke to dance.”

“What?” Bellamy is so confused that he stops trying to move around Murphy. 

Murphy’s smile is sad as he considers him. “You’re not an idiot. Go ask the girl to dance. You’re the one she wants to be dancing with.”

“What about you?” Bellamy doesn’t understand what the hell is going on right now. He never should’ve come tonight. 

“Look, Clarke is amazing. I’d be lucky to date her.” Murphy shrugs. “But she doesn’t see anyone but you. I knew that when I suggested we see what could happen between us if we gave it a chance. _I’m_ not an idiot. I just wanted to see if I could make you jealous enough to man up and make your move. Did it work?”

Bellamy laughs. Is Murphy serious right now? “Of course I was fucking jealous. You had your hands all over her.” He shakes his head. “I was planning on ending things with Echo tonight so that I was free to ask Clarke out. So your plan? It wasn’t necessary.”

“And did you? End it with Echo, I mean.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes I did.” Bellamy let out a deep sigh. He just wants this conversation to be over. 

“Then go ask your girl to dance.” Murphy leans in closer. “And don’t hurt her, because if you do I’ll be coming for you. And don’t think for a second that if you fuck up I won’t try and swoop in and get that chance.”

Bellamy stares at him for a second before shaking his head. He spins on his heels, eyes searching the room for Clarke. He finds her in seconds, sitting at a table chatting with her sister. She’s so beautiful. 

“Well go, you idiot.” Murphy gives him a shove and it’s all Bellamy needs to start making his way over to her.

“Clarke.” Bellamy clears his throat. “Would you like to dance?”

Clarke looks up at him, surprise and confusion clear on her face. “I’m uh-I’m waiting for Murphy.” She looks around. “And what about Echo?”

Josephine laughs as she leans over and places her hand on top of Clarke’s. “Did you not hear? Bellamy broke up with her in the middle of the dance floor. She went postal and he just _walked away_.” Josephine grins up at him. “Makes me respect you just a bit.”

Bellamy’s eyes never leave Clarke as he ignores Josephine’s comment. “Murphy’s the one that told me I should come over here and ask you to dance.”

“What? Seriously?” Clarke looks around him until he assumes her eyes land on Murphy. He refuses to take his eyes off of Clarke, so he doesn’t know what she sees, but suddenly she’s smiling and standing up. “Yes, I’d love to dance.”

Bellamy’s smile lights up his face. “Thank God.” He sweeps her out on the floor just as the DJ announces that this is the last song. “Well, I guess that was good timing.”

“Yeah, I guess it was.” Clarke’s smile is shy—hesitant as she wraps her arms around his neck.

Bellamy’s arms wrap around her waist and he pulls her as close as he can. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” She peers up at him and he can see the question in her eyes.

“For being a dick. For dating Echo when I was interested in you. I don’t know. For everything.” They’re barely moving—really just swaying to the music. 

Clarke shrugs. “I...well, I don’t know what to say to that.”

Bellamy’s eyes fall to her lips and all he can think about is kissing her. He’s literally just told her for the first time that he is interested in her—it’s too soon to kiss her. But he’s already leaning over, eyes falling shut as their lips brush. It’s a quick kiss—nothing remarkable about it. 

And yet, a soft noise falls from Clarke’s lips as he pulls away and she’s pulling him back down. This time it’s longer and then her tongue is brushing against his lips. And it’s dumb and he’ll never admit it to anyone, but it feels like the whole world is trembling. His arms tighten around her as the kiss deepens and he feels like his entire body is on fire. He’s never felt anything like this before—it’s hot and yet comfortable all at once. _This_ is what he wants. 

When they pull apart they’re both panting and the song is ending, the DJ announcing that the night is over and the lights are coming up slowly. He leans down and brushes his lips against hers again because he can’t help it. “Can I take you home?”

Clarke nods shyly, head ducking for a moment before she looks back up at him. “I’d really like that.”

“Good.” Bellamy links his hand in hers and they follow with the crowd heading toward the stairs. When they stop at the coat check to grab her shrug they find Murphy leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face as he watches them. 

Clarke breaks away from him and launches herself at Murphy, hugging him close. When she speaks it quietly, but Bellamy can still hear. “Thank you, Murph. You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.” 

Murphy hugs her close, but his eyes are on Bellamy. “I just want what’s best for you. Always have.” He pulls away. “But don’t go spreading that around. I don’t need the whole world thinking that I’m a nice guy.”

“Nope, wouldn’t want that.” Clarke laughs as she grabs Bellamy’s hand again.

“Have a good night, Murphy.” Bellamy extends his hand to the other boy who takes it slowly and they shake quickly. “Thanks.”

“Don’t think that this means we’re friends. I did this for Clarke.” Murphy sneers as he drops Bellamy’s hand. “And remember what I said. I mean that.”

For two seconds Bellamy had thought that maybe, just maybe, he and Murphy could be friends. Then Murphy had opened his mouth and Bellamy remembers why he doesn’t like the guy. He just shakes his head and focuses on Clarke. “We should get you home.”

“Let me just grab my shrug.” Clarke reaches up and kisses his cheek before turning and heading to get in line for the coat check.

Bellamy stares after her and wonders how the hell this is even possible. How did he manage to land the girl of his dreams when the night had started so shitty? He doesn’t know what he did to deserve this chance, but he’s thankful that he’s gotten it and he’s not going to fuck it up. 

“I won’t hurt her. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.” Bellamy doesn’t take his eyes off Clarke as he speaks to Murphy. 

Murphy laughs. “I hope you know that you know that you don’t deserve her and she’s way too good for you.”

“Oh, I know.” This time Bellamy does glance at Murphy. “But as long as she’ll have me I’ll make her happy.”

“You better.” Without another word Murphy tuns to leave, glancing just once at Clarke. 

Bellamy watches him leave and wonders if he should worry about him. He’s obviously got a thing for Clarke—not that he blames him, but the real question is if he’ll do anything about it.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Clarke appears in front of him and as he turns to her all thoughts of Murphy are forgotten. All he can think about it Clarke and the fact that she’s _his_. Or at least she will be—he’s not wasting any more time.

“Clarke, I want you to be my girlfriend. Will you?”

Clarke is beaming as she nods. “Of course. Yes.”

Bellamy leans over, kissing her again. As her arms twine around his neck, he can’t believe that this is his life. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new year starts and we learn a bit more about Bellamy's past. But who else's secrets will be revealed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to apologize for the huge gap in updates. Life got busy as did my writing. I'm going to shoot for updates every 2 weeks from here on out, but I made no guarantees.
> 
> Moodboard by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) can be viewed [ HERE ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8bd62559f961510210b7daf424f0e4af/94c54c19b580b33d-ae/s500x750/6db66b5261319340e49fafa67199b16cf14b5b3a.jpg). But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) for some art to go with the fic which you can see [ HERE](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/post/627966436600643585/requested-for-t100fic-for-blm-by). Please check it out and give her all the love that she deserves.
> 
> On the topic of The t100 writers for BLM initiative, I (and many other talented writers and creators) are currently taking prompts in exchange for donations to a BLM cause. Please check out [the Tumblr page here](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) to see what we're all about. So is there a fall fic that you'd like to read? A fix-it that you want to be written? A song that you want GIFed that breaks your heart? Come prompt us!!

**May 26, 2021**

She sits back in her chair, fighting a grin. Smiling would give it away. This is supposed to be a sad time. After all, Finn Collins is dead. Thank God. 

She rolls her eyes as those around her talk about how much they’ll _miss him_ and how _great_ he was. Bullshit. No one liked Finn when he was alive, but now that he’s dead everyone has to talk about him as if he were a _good_ person instead of the miscreant that he was. They’re all so fake, but that’s not news to her. She’s here for a reason—a purpose. She’s not their friend—even if she has to act like she is. She can’t stand any of them. She _hates_ fake people. 

She glances down at her nails and picks at the polish. Pretending to be this person is annoying, but she has it down to a tee. They don’t know anything’s amiss. They don’t know that she has a plan and that they’re all playing their parts. That Finn already played his part and when she was done with him—well, let’s just say she wasn’t surprised when the news came out that he was dead. He’d outlived his use, she didn’t need him anymore.

She wishes she could’ve been in that room when the other girl woke up there next to his dead body. She can imagine the shock—the confusion. But as she looks across the table she admits that the other girl is a better actress than she thought she’d be. She’d seemed as cool as a cucumber all week. When the news broke that it was Finn that was dead she’d acted just as devastated as all the others—fake. 

But that’s okay. They’ll all get what they deserve and they’ll never know that she had anything to do with it. 

* * *

**December 31, 2020/January 1, 2021**

“5..4..3..2..1..” 

Clarke leans into Bellamy as their lips meet. They’ve been together for two weeks now and she’s loving every minute of it. It’s helped that they’ve been on winter vacation so with no school taking up their time, they’ve been together nonstop. 

When Bellamy pulls back he has a smile on his face and she doesn’t bother hiding her grin. She’s happy—like, _really_ happy. It’s not that she wasn’t happy before, but being with Bellamy is so different than her previous relationships. Obviously, with Lexa, she spent the entirety of their relationship hiding. She dated a couple of guys during her freshman and sophomore years but it hadn’t been anything serious. Even after just two weeks, this feels serious. And she is over the moon about it.

“Bellamy!” 

Both Bellamy and Clarke turn to see Miller waving to get his attention. She nudges him before nodding towards Miller. “Go. I need to go check on Josie anyways.”

“‘Kay.” Bellamy leans down and kisses her softly, running his thumb down the side of her face. “Come find me when you’re done?”

“Of course.” Clarke is sure that she’s grinning like an idiot as she watches his walk away. After a moment she does scan the room for her sister. She knows that Josephine won’t be drunk—they’d agreed that they’d have a few drinks but since the girls were all headed to their house for a sleepover once the party was over they’d decided they should be at least slightly sober when they headed home.

She finds Josephine sitting in Gabriel’s lap on a sofa talking with Emori and Echo. She considers heading over to them, but she’d rather _not_ since she was already going to have to put up with them for the rest of the night and probably most of the next day. She loves Emori—when she’s on her own. Echo, on the other hand, hasn’t been exactly nice to her, and Clarke really can’t blame her. Bellamy had ended things with her and then less than an hour later he and Clarke were together. She refuses to feel bad about it because it’s what she wants, but she also knows that she deserves the way that Echo has been treating her.

Instead of heading towards them, Clarke heads to the balcony. They’re at Wells’ house since Thelonious had joined her mom and Marcus on a trip out of town the day after Christmas. And thank God for that, because Clarke is sure that she would’ve killed her mom otherwise. She leans against the railing and looks out on the Jaha estate. Wells’s mom had been an avid gardener so their estate was breathtaking.

Clarke is worried about school on Monday—not the actual school part, but the whole her and Bellamy dating part. She’s friends with his friends—hell, she’s known Lincoln and Miller since grade school. They were two of her closest friends before junior high when Josephine decided that they needed to be popular. She still makes sure to make time for them, but they haven’t been as close since. Most of the people that she is friends with now she doesn’t really consider friends—most of them are Josephine’s friends. 

Wells and Bellamy have been getting along great, which means that Roan has been nice. Murphy, well—Murphy is being Murphy, There isn’t much she can do about that. She likes to _think_ he’s trying, but honestly, she’s not sure. Josephine has been putting in an honest effort at being nicer, but so far it’s only been successful about half the time. Echo has been anything _but_ nice to them, but again—Clarke doesn’t blame her. Gaia and Emori are followers, so how they act depends on who else is around. 

But her mom? She had _not_ reacted well when they’d sat her and Marcus down to let them know they were dating. Clarke hadn’t wanted to tell them. She knew how her mom would react and she hadn’t been disappointed. She had screeched about how it would look since she and Marcus were dating. And the fact that it had been all over social media that Clarke was a lesbian and now they’d say she’d been faking.

It was only Bellamy’s hand on hers and the fact that she was biting her tongue so hard that she could taste the blood that kept her from blowing up on her mom. It had been Marcus who’d told her to lighten up—to let them be kids. Who cared what other people thought? If they were happy, he was happy for them. When he’d said that Clarke had wanted to hug him and she did once the conversation was over. She knew that was how her dad would’ve responded to the situation if he’d been around and it was nice to have someone to calm down her mom. 

With a sigh, she forces herself to forget about her mom. She doesn’t have to worry about dealing with her until Sunday. She pushes off of the railing and heads back inside to find Bellamy. She finds him downstairs sitting around the table with Miller, Jackson, Roan, Wells, Raven, and Murphy of all people. She slides into the seat next to Bellamy who reaches out to take her hand in his just as Josephine and Gabriel walk up and join them.

Clarke sends her sister a smile as she moves her chair closer to Bellamy.He drops her hand to put his arm around her shoulders instead. He and Octavia have been staying at their place for the last week or so—partially because Bellamy can’t seem to stay away from her and partially because they said they hated being in that big house alone. She and Bellamy have been sharing a bed for that entire time, but nothing has happened. She can’t help but smile as she looks up at him. He’s such a gentleman. He always stops them when their makeout sessions get too hot and heavy. She knows that he won’t pressure her and it’s a nice feeling.

Roan suddenly leans over and elbows her. “I ship it.”

“What?” Clarke turns to him, puzzled.

He nods to the other side of Bellamy where Murphy is very obviously hitting on Raven. She sees Raven crack a smile at something he says and he looks—smitten. It’s not a look she thinks she’s ever seen on Murphy’s face before. She might agree with Roan.

“Roan, we don’t _ship_ real people.” 

Roan shrugs. “I’m just saying.”

“Get a life.” Clarke rolls her eyes but smiles to let him know that she’s joking. They might all be a little invested in their friends’ love lives. But at the same time did Roan really just say he shipped someone? Since when did Roan start using the word shipping? Or caring about who is dating who?

“Alright, so this party is turning into a very lame party very quickly.” Josephine leans forward, eyes darting around the table. “How about a game of Never Have I Ever?”

Clarke groans along with some of the others around the table. She hates that game so much. She either ends up very drunk or feeling very judged—sometimes both.

“Oh, hush. I’ll go first.” Josephine is grinning, eyes locked with Clarke’s when she continues, “Never have I ever….kissed a girl.”

Seriously Jos? Clarke rolls her eyes at her sister before lifting her glass to her lips and taking a drink. The only people at the table to not drink are Josephine, Miller, and Jackson. “So who’s the lame one now, Jos?”

Josephine laughs before turning to Miller. “Your turn.”

Before he can speak Bellamy’s phone lets out a sharp alarm sound, vibrating across the table and startling most of them. Bellamy almost drops his drink as she pulls his arm off of Clarke’s shoulders to pick up his phone. “Who the hell would be messaging me?” He laughs as he looks around the table. “All my friends are here.”

“You mean the like four friends you have?” Josephine snarks, holding her hands up in surrender when Clarke glares at her. “Sorry, snap reaction. I’m trying, I swear.”

Bellamy just rolls his eyes as he unlocks his phone and this time he does drop his drink as his eyes narrow and his face reddens. 

“Bellamy?” Clarke leans over, brow pinched. 

Bellamy stands up quickly, not looking anyone in the eye as he shoves his phone into Clarke’s hands. “I need some air. I’ll be out front.”

Clarke watches him walk away before glancing at the phone, eyes widening as she reads.

  


Clarke’s eyes meet Raven’s who has pulled out her phone. “I’m going to check on him. Can you find O?”

Raven nods out of the room before Clarke has even stood up. Her eyes land on Josephine and she shakes her head. “Not a word.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything. Jesus, have a little faith in me Clarkie. Even _I’m_ not that cruel.” Josephine shakes her head. “Go check on your boy toy. Pretty sure the party’s over.”

Clarke heads after Bellamy and finds him on the front porch with his head in his hands. “Bellamy?”

He doesn’t look up, but she can see his shoulder shaking in silent sobs. She rushes over and drops to her knees in front of him as she wraps her arms around him. He collapses against her as he cries. “Shh, I’m here.”

She doesn’t know how long they sit like this, but he remains silent though she knows he’s still crying because she can feel his tears on her neck. They’re still like this when Raven and Octavia find them.

“Bell?” Octavia’s voice wavers, barely holding back tears.

Bellamy breaks away from her, wiping the tears from his face as he races across the porch to sweep Octavia into his arms. Raven helps Clarke up off of the ground as they both watch the siblings embrace, unsure of what they can do to help.

“We need to get out of here,” Bellamy’s voice is gruff as he speaks to Octavia. “Now.”

“Hey, now wait a minute,” Clarke calls out as Bellamy starts to lead Octavia down the front path. “Hey!” Clarke yells when he doesn’t pause.

“I’ll talk to you later, Clarke!” he calls over his shoulder. 

What? Clarke doesn’t think as she runs over and steps into their path. “No.”

Bellamy’s eyes flash up to meet hers and she can see the anger simmering there. “Let us leave, Clarke. This has nothing to do with you.”

Ouch, that hurt. But she wasn’t going to let it get to her. He’s hurting and she’s a convenient target. She understands that, but she’s also not going to just let them leave. “I’m not going to let you drive when you’re this upset, Bellamy. You’ll be putting both yours and Octavia’s lives at risk.”

Bellamy glances between her and Octavia for a moment, shoulders slumping when Raven’s hand lands on his back. “I don’t want _them_ to see me like this and give them something else to hold over me.”

“They won’t.” Clarke shakes her head. “I know you think the worst of my friends, but I can guarantee you that this isn’t something that any of them are going to throw in your face. And if it is? I’ll kick their asses myself.”

Both Bellamy and Octavia let out watery laughs which brings a smile to her face. She can’t know exactly what they’re going through but she can be there for them. 

“I didn’t want her remembered like that,” Bellamy’s voice cracks. “It’s no one’s business what she had to do to survive—to take care of us.”

Raven shoulders are tense, face not concealing her anger. “You’re right, it’s not. And the person doing this? They’re a piece of shit.” Her voice is tight as she continues. “They better hope I never find out who they are—which by the way I _will_ be working on.” 

Clarke has no idea what that means and her confusion must be written all over her face because Raven laughs when her eyes land on Clarke. “I forget that you don’t know me that well yet. I’m _very_ good with technology and I’m a bit of a hacker. If they left any crumbs I’ll find them and figure out who the hell is behind this.”

“Good.” Clarke gives her a small smile. “Because they need to be held accountable for the chaos that they’re causing.” She turns her attention back to the Blakes. “I’ll drive us home.” She holds up her hand when Bellamy opens his mouth to speak. “I’ve been sipping on the same drink all night, I’m fine. I know you don’t want to leave your car here.”

“I don’t care about the car.” Bellamy shakes his head. “But I can’t go to your place, you guys are having a sleepover.”

“Shit, I forgot about that. I can cancel it.” Clarke starts to pull out her phone, but Bellamy stops her.

“Don’t do that. I’ll just go to Marcus’s. I’ll be fine to drive.” 

“Nope.” Clarke shakes her head. “I’m not letting you go home alone.” She glances at Octavia. “Unless you were planning on going home?”

“I’d rather not. I’d rather be at your place.” Octavia glances up at Bellamy.

“I was planning to go to the sleepover too. Get to know the girls that I’m going to be going to school with on Monday.” Raven laughs.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll drive us all to my house.” Clarke holds her hand up to cut off Bellamy when he opens his mouth. “You can stay in my room. We were all planning on staying downstairs anyways. Boris was setting it up for us. And don’t bother arguing because I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Bellamy lets out a short laugh before leaning over and kissing her quickly, causing Octavia to gag. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Clarke links her hand with his and they set off to Bellamy’s car which is parked up the road. “O, would you text Josie and let her know that we’re heading to the house?”

“Already done.”

Clarke glances back at Octavia. Raven has her arm around her, and though Octavia’s cheeks are wet she’s no longer crying. Clarke hates this for them. She hates that they’re having to deal with this. They’ve already had to bury their mother, and now someone was out spreading information that didn’t need to be known. It’s so fucked up and Clarke hates it. She hopes with everything in her that Raven will have some success with tracking them down, but what she really hopes for is that they’ll all make it through this mess.

* * *

“Clarke?” Josephine pushes open the door to her house, gesturing for the girls to follow her.

“We’re in here!” Clarke’s voice carries from the family room into the hallway.

Josephine steps into the room to find Octavia on the couch with Clarke and Raven on each side of her. Octavia is leaning on Raven while Clarke plays with her hair. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are tear-stained, but she seems to be keeping it together for the most part. 

“Girls, why don’t you get the food from the kitchen? I’m sure that Boris has it all set out for us.” Josephine waits until they’ve left before heading to the couch, kneeling in front of the trio. She rests her hand on Octavia’s knee.

“How are you doing?” she asks softly.

Octavia tries to force a smile, but it doesn’t quite work. “I’m okay….No, I’m a mess, but I will be okay. It just sucks.”

“It really does.” She glances over her shoulder to make sure that the others haven’t returned. “If you need _anything_ you let me know.” She pauses. “Preferably when the other girls aren’t around.”

“Really Jos?” Clarke snorts as she rolls her eyes.

Josephine looks away from Octavia to glare at Clarke. “I don’t need them thinking that they can ask me for whatever they want just because.” She glances back at Octavia. “But I'm serious about that.”

“Thanks, Josie.” Octavia leans forward and hugs Josephine quickly. 

“Where’s Bellamy?” She addresses all three girls, but she’s looking at Clarke.

“In my room. I didn’t want him to be alone so I told him he could have the run of the upstairs since we’d be down here.” Clarke glances towards the stairs. “Maybe I should go check on him.”

“You should let him have tonight, Clarke.” Octavia turns to look at her. “He’s going to be embarrassed that you saw him like that already.”

“We have snacks!” Emori yells as she walks into the room, smiling sympathetically at Octavia.

“There’s cupcakes, popcorn, and candy.” Gaia sets her haul down onto the table.

“Yes! We can’t let whoever this heinous asshole that seems out to ruin our lives interrupt the sleepover!” Josephine jumps up from the floor and heads to the bar as Echo walks back in. “Who’s ready to get drunk?”

“Oh, yes, please.” Octavia sits up and leans forward. “I am in _desperate_ need of some alcohol.” She holds out her hand when Josephine walks back over with the bottle of tequila and hands it over, watching as Octavia takes a swig and grimaces. “Oh, straight alcohol does _not_ taste good.”

Raven laughs as she takes the bottle from Octavia and takes a long swig. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, O?” Clarke looks worried.

“Don’t be such a spoilsport, Clarkie.” Josephine rolls her eyes. “She’s at our house and her brother is upstairs. We’re not going to let anything happen to her.”

“Bellamy is here?” Echo’s eyes go to the stairs.

“Yes, he’s in my sister’s bedroom where he belongs.” Josephine’s eyes stray to Echo. She’s already informed Echo that if she can’t behave and be nice to Clarke then she won’t have a place in their circle anymore. She’s let it go on for two weeks but enough is enough. Clarke didn’t want her to say anything—she thinks she deserves it. They’re in fucking high school for God’s sake. Relationships come and go. Friends can too if they don’t know how to be nice to her sister.

Echo nods. “That makes sense. I’m glad he’s not at home alone.” When she smiles at Clarke it’s a little forced, but Josephine appreciates the effort. 

“And I didn’t say anything about getting drunk.” Octavia takes the bottle from Raven and takes another drink. At least this time she doesn’t sputter afterward.

Clarke yanks the bottle from her hands, shaking her head. “The way you’re going, you’re going to get very drunk very quickly. Take it easy. Drinking from a bottle isn’t the same as mixed drinks.” She took a drink from the bottle before passing it back to Josephine.

They pass the bottle around for a while, throwing on _The Breakfast Club_ for background noise. Eventually, Josephine grins at her sister. “So, Clarkie. Tell me more about this boyfriend of yours. Is he good in bed?”

“Ewwww…” Octavia makes a face. “I do _not_ want to hear about my brother’s sex life, thank you very much.”

Clarke feels her face heat up as she shrugs. “I wouldn’t know.”

“What?” Echo gapes at her. “Are you serious? We slept together like the second day we were dating. He was _desperate_ for it. On the upside, he was amazing so you have that to look forward to.”

All of the girls’ eyes land on Clarke and Josephine can tell that she’s pissed. Josephine turns her head slowly to eye Echo, her smile turning into a smirk. “There’s no reason to brag about being a slut Echo. We already know.”

Raven snorts before leaning over to nudge Clarke. “I’m going to go ahead and admit this now and hope that you don’t hate me. I’ve also slept with Bellamy and can admit that he is great in bed.”

“Seriously!” Octavia shrieks as her hands slap over her ears. “How many times do I have to say that I don’t want to hear about my brother’s sex life?”

Josephine’s eyes are wide as she looks at her sister. “Your boyfriend gets around. You okay with that?”

“Seriously?” Raven’s hands smack against her legs and she looks livid. “Number one, it wasn’t like that. We lost our virginity to one another. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about.” She shakes her head, turning to look at Clarke with her eyes pleading. “Please don’t hold this against him.”

Clarke laughs. “I wouldn’t. I mean, I appreciate you telling me so that I’m not surprised if it comes out later. I’ve slept with people, he’s slept with people. Whatever.”

“Honestly, it was a lot of awkwardness and laughing at first. I couldn’t ask for a better first time, but afterward, we knew that we were never meant to be more than friends. It was good, but it was weird.” Raven pulls on Octavia’s arms. “Pretty sure we’re done now.”

Octavia slowly lowers her hands, looking around the circle before her eyes land on Clarke. “I’m super glad that you and my brother are together, but I do _not_ want to hear about your sex life. Like ever.”

All the girls laugh at the look on Octavia’s face, and the tension is broken. Josephine didn’t mean to make a dig at Bellamy—she really didn’t. She’s just not good at filtering her thoughts—but she’s trying. She’ll apologize to Clarke later. 

“While we’re on the topic of sex—don’t worry nothing to do with your brother-” Josephine sends Octavia a small smile. “-Have _you_ had sex yet?”

Octavia’s face flushes red as she shakes her head, eyes glancing toward the stairs. “No. I’ve kissed a few guys, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

“Well, is there someone you’d _like_ it to happen with?” Gaia leans forward as she is unwrapping a cupcake. “I haven’t really seen you hang around any guys.” Her eyes flash to Clarke for a moment. “Or girls if that’s what you’re into.”

“Definitely into guys.” Octavia glances at Clarke. “Not that there’s anything wrong with liking girls.”

“Oh my God, you guys!” Clarke rolls her eyes. “Yes, we get it. I’m the token bi in the group, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about offending me because you’re not also into girls.”

Josephine grins. “Well, you never know. You find me the right girl and I might be interested.”

“Shut up, Josie.” Clarke laughs. 

Josephine turns back to look at Octavia. “But seriously, is there someone you have your eye on?”

Octavia bites down on her lip, eyes swinging back to the stairs. “There’s someone I _might_ be interested in.”

“Who?” Gaia gasps.

“Nope, I’m not telling.” She nods toward the stairs. “If he finds out he’ll kill me. He’s a junior like you guys and Bell will freak the fuck out if I try and date someone older than me.”

“Maybe he’ll surprise you?” Clarke doesn’t sound certain as she speaks.

Octavia and Raven both start laughing, falling over onto one another as they lose it. It’s Raven that finally sobers up enough to speak. “You wanna try saying that without that look on your face?”

“Okay, so he’ll probably freak out no matter who you try and date so….” Clarke trails off. “Don’t worry, I won’t mention it to him. Hoes before bros, right?”

“Seriously Clarkie? Have you been watching _One Tree Hill_ again?” Josephine sighs as she sits back.

Clarke glares at her sister. “It’s a good show.”

Raven turns to look at Octavia. “Look, I’m glad that someone has caught your eye, but be careful. Guys are assholes. Period. They _will_ use you for sex. So be _sure_ before you sleep with someone.”

“Yeah.” Clarke makes a face. “Don’t want to lose your virginity to the wrong person like me. Make sure it’s someone that you care about who cares about you. You want it to be special.”

“Or you can be like Echo and sleep with anyone who looks at you.” Josephine smiles sweetly as she turns to look at Echo—daring her to retaliate.

Echo takes a deep breath and a flash of anger shows on her face before she’s back to a mask of nothingness. “Yeah, don’t be like me.”

Josephine smirks as she turns back to see Clarke giving her a dirty look. She shrugs. Echo deserves it for the way she’s been treating Clarke. And honestly? Being nice all the time has been giving Josephine hives. Clarke and Gabriel were taking all the fun out of life—okay, not really, but she does miss being mean. Which probably doesn’t say a lot for her. Maybe she should consider why she feels the need to be mean to others. It’s probably not a good thing and it’s obviously not a good character trait. She grabs a cupcake and bites into it. Tonight isn’t the night for self-reflecting. She’ll worry about that later—if ever. 

Tonight is about having fun—something that they’ve all been struggling with lately. She picks up a handful of popcorn and throws it at Clarke’s head, ducking as someone else starts throwing candy. Within minutes they’ve devolved into a full out food fight and Josephine doesn’t remember the last time she’s felt this free.

* * *

He sits in his car across the street from the Griffin house. He can see the girls only slightly from where he sits. He glances around to sure that there is no one on the street before grabbing his camera and exiting the car that he’d borrowed. He followed Clarke, Raven, Octavia, and Bellamy as they left the party—making sure not to get too close. He considered getting out once the rest of the girls had arrived, but there were still lights on upstairs. Now the light was off, so there was less of a chance that he would be caught.

He scurries across the road and slinks into the bushes that surround the Griffin property. He glances at a large tree that sits in the yard, but it provides no cover now that it’s winter. The house itself has large bushes surrounding it. Maybe he can climb into one of those? There’s only one way to find out.

He moves quickly and quietly between the bushes until he reaches one near the side window—better to be on the side of the house than the front. Less of a chance of being caught. He has so many plans and it would be terrible if those plans were interrupted. He slides inside the bush—not an easy thing to do. Positioning his camera in front of his eye, he moves around until he has a clear shot of the girls. 

He snaps some pictures of each of them as they drink, laughing. Fucking sluts. Every single one of them. He can’t stand them or the fact that they’re in _her_ presence. He focuses the camera on her—his angel, Clarke. He continues to snap photo after photo of her. She is so beautiful and she looks so happy. He wishes that she was looking at him like that.

He bites down on his anger, reminding himself that he has to be patient. She’s worth the time and effort. One day she _will_ look at him like that. She will look at him with love in her eyes. He knows it and that’s why he has to follow his plan. His plan will make her love him. She will love him—or she’ll love no one.

* * *

**January 4, 2021**

Bellamy closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before stepping out of his car. When he pulled into the parking lot, Octavia took off before he’d even come to a full stop. He doesn’t understand how she’s taking everything so well. On one hand, he’s happy that she seems to be dealing with this so well. On the other hand, he’s extremely jealous because he knows that he’s not. He barely got any sleep last night—probably partially because he’s gotten used to Clarke sleeping next to him, but also because he was worrying about how today was going to go.

He pushes open the door and climbs out of the car, eyes already sweeping the parking lot. He knows he’s not being paranoid—there are eyes on him and people are whispering. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but he doesn’t have to guess. He knows. They’re talking about how he’s the son of a prostitute. 

He closes his eyes again, shaking his head. He’s got to ignore it. It fucking sucks that everyone knows, but it’s out now. There’s nothing he can do about that except deal with it. He’s not ashamed of his mother in any way—she did what she had to do. But he hates how she had to take care of them. He hates that she _had_ to. He hates that she wouldn’t take the help that Marcus offered when he’d found out about Octavia. He hates that Marcus had said that no one would find out—how he’d promised—yet now everyone knows. It isn’t fair. He wants to punch everyone in their mouths, which he knows, logically, isn’t the proper way to respond to the situation. 

But at least he has Clarke. When he opens his eyes again he’s smiling, because that’s what she does to him—she makes him happy. He heads up the stairs, eyes scanning for Clarke and he finds her standing with his sister, Raven, and some of her friends. Their eyes meet and he’s never been happier to see her. If it wasn’t for her, he’s sure that he would lose it. He walks over to her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. 

“Well if it isn’t Pretty Woman’s son.” Murphy grins at him.

Bellamy knows that it’s a joke, he really does, but something inside of him snaps. He launches himself at Murphy, right hook to Murphy’s jaw. Murphy tumbles to the ground and Bellamy follows, punching him again and again. He knows that this is a bad idea, but it’s like his body and his brain have a disconnect. He can’t seem to make himself stop swinging. 

“Bellamy!” Even Clarke’s voice isn’t enough to make him stop.

It’s not until two sets of arms pull him off that he falls limp. He glances up to find Wells and Roan each holding one of his arms.

“Not the way I was expecting my morning to start.” Wells rolls his eyes as he glances down at Bellamy. “You good?”

Bellamy shrugs, but then Clarke is in front of him with her hands on his face. “Bellamy? You can’t do that. He’s not worth it. You know they’ll expel you for fighting.”

Bellamy lets out a deep sigh as his eyes fall shut. Yes, he knows that they’ll expel him. Yes, he knows that Murphy was probably just joking. But he hadn’t cared about any of that. He’d just wanted to hit someone so he had. When he opens his eyes he nods. “I’m good.”

Wells and Roan drop their hold on him, hands at the ready in case he decides he’s not okay. “I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it—Murphy usually does, but wait until you’re off school property before you kick his ass next time, yeah?” Roan’s smile is lopsided as he pats Bellamy’s shoulder before stepping back.

“I’m sorry,” Bellamy whispers as he pulled Clarke into his arms. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

Clarke pulls back from him, shaking her head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. But you know they’re going to be saying shit all day and you can’t just hit them. Fighting is an automatic expulsion.”

Bellamy nods. “I know. I’ll keep it together. I promise.”

Clarke nods, giving him a quick peck before turning to Murphy who is sitting on the ground holding his jaw in his hand. “And _you_! You’re better than this. What the hell is wrong with you? This asshole has spread rumors about all of us. Why do you think it’s okay to give Bellamy a hard time about something that no one else needed to know?” She glares down at him. “What if they sent out another secret of yours—one you don’t want anyone to know? How would you feel if people were giving you grief about that? Huh?”

Bellamy watches, amused. Clarke is adorable when she’s worked up and he knows that’s not where his mind should go in this situation, but let’s face it—he’s head over heels for her. But this also makes him think that Clarke knows something about Murphy that maybe he doesn’t want others to know. He doesn’t care what it is. After all, everyone is entitled to their secrets, but he is a _little_ curious about this secret that they might share. But he also knows that he won’t ask her about it, because even if she is pissed off at Murphy, she’s too good of a friend to reveal a secret.

Murphy frowns up at Clarke before turning to Bellamy. “Look, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was _supposed_ to be a joke.” His eyes flash back to Clarke. “But it was uncalled for and it won’t happen again.”

Bellamy shrugs, reaching down to help the other boy to his feet. “And I’m sorry for punching you. Well, mostly sorry anyways.”

Murphy laughs. “I don’t blame you. I _was_ asking for it.” He rubs his jaw again. “But damn do you pack a punch. Where did you learn to punch like that?”

Bellamy’s laugh is surprised. “Boxing. I took up my freshman year. It’s a good anger release.”

“That makes sense.” Murphy shrugs. “Maybe you could show me a few things sometime? Maybe it’s something we could do together?”

Bellamy recognizes this for what it is—a peace offering. He finds himself nodding slowly. “Yeah, we could do that.”

“Cool.” Murphy nods at him before pulling Clarke in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Griffin. You’re right and I wasn’t thinking.”

Clarke returns the hug before pulling away to take Bellamy’s hand. “I know that’s not always your forte Murph, but don’t think I won’t call you out when you’re being an idiot.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Murphy grins, glancing up as a tall gangly guy walks by. “Alright, gotta go see a man about a thing. I’ll see you guys at lunch?”

Bellamy waves as Murphy walks away and maybe he can see what Clarke sees in Murphy. Yes, he’s an ass who often doesn’t think before he talks, but he seems to genuinely care about Clarke. And he’s making an effort with Bellamy, which is something that he can appreciate. They may never be close like he and Clarke are, but maybe he and Murphy can form some kind of friendship.

“Shit,” Roan curses as he stares at his phone, pulling Bellamy from his musings. “Where’s Echo?”

Bellamy looks around as everyone shrugs. Bellamy pulls out his phone and jaw clenches, his mind worrying over what it could be this time.

  


Damn. Obviously, this doesn’t make a difference to Bellamy. Hell, Mecha is where is grew up. He even recognizes the building in the picture—it was half a block from where he grew up. But he also knows how a lot of these kids at this school are and they’re going to care.

Clarke pulls on his arms until he shows her the message. “Seriously? What the hell is wrong with this person? What’s the point of all of this?” She turns to look at Roan who is leaving a message for Echo. “Should we go try and find her?”

Roan shakes his head. “No, she’s not going to want to see anyone right now.” He groans as the bell rings. “You guys should just go to class. I’ll find her. Hopefully, she hadn’t made it to school yet. Don’t count on seeing her today.” Without another word, Roan takes off for the parking lot.

“I _really_ hate this person.” Bellamy entwines his fingers with Clarke’s as they start to head into the school. “Why are they doing this to everyone? It’s so messed up.”

Clarke shakes her head. “I have no idea. I wonder if Raven had any luck with figuring out who it was.”

Raven appears beside them as if summoned. “Raven what?”

Bellamy jumps, not having heard her approach. “I think we’re going to have to put a bell on you.”

“Nope,” Raven laughs. “I love scaring the shit out of you. Now, what about me?”

“I was just wondering if you’d had any luck with figuring out who this asshole is that’s releasing all the secrets.” Clarke tries to smile but fails. “They just released something about Echo.”

Raven shakes her head. “Nothing so far. They’re smarter and much more tech-savvy than I thought they’d be. They’ve covered their tracks well. But I’m going to keep trying. “ She glances at Bellamy. “Well, at least since they’ve released another secret maybe they’ll let up on you and O?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” Bellamy shakes his head. “Turns out she’s from Mecha too and we both know how most of the people here feel about the kids from Mecha.”

Raven rolls her eyes. “Oh do I ever. You should’ve heard what they were saying when I pulled up on my motorcycle.”

Clarke stiffens. “Who said what? I’ll set them straight.”

“Down girl.” Raven laughs. “I told them what they could do with their small dicks.” She almost doubles over when she catches a glimpse at the look on Clarke’s face. “Trust me, Clarke. I’ve had to deal with assholes like this my whole life. I can take care of myself.”

“I just don’t like it.” Clarke pouts.

“Raven’s a big girl. I promise she’ll be fine.” Bellamy leans over and kisses Clarke quickly. “We better hurry up and get to class so we’re not late. Don’t wanna get detention.” He points at Raven. “Especially not you on your first day.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Raven waves as she heads off down the hallway. “So you guys later!”

“Try not to hit anyone else today, alright? Clarke kisses him again and heads towards class.

Bellamy watches her go before hurrying over to his locker to grab his books. He’d given Raven and Clarke a hard time about possibly being late, but he barely makes it to his first class on time. He ignores the look Miller shoots at him and settles in quickly, but he can still hear his classmates’ whispering. He takes a deep breath as he pulls out his notebook. He can do this, he can ignore them and make it through the day.

“You good man?” Miller turns around and asks.

Bellamy nods. “I’ll be fine.”

“Cool.” Miller nods. “Do me a favor? The next time you punch Murphy can you make sure that I’m there to see it. Please?”

Their teacher calling their attention to the front of the room, and Bellamy laughs as Miller turns around. Thank God for his friends, otherwise, he wouldn’t make it through this hellhole of a school.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's Day, a day that should be filled with love. But not on the Upper East Side—here it's filled with terror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! New chapter! This one starts to get a little dark. I'll update this author's note later. I need a nap.
> 
> We're taking prompts still via t100fics4blm, please check out our card [HERE](t100fic-for-blm.carrd.co)!!!

**May 27, 2021**

It’s been five days since he received the phone call to go to the Empire—there was an emergency. Five days since he’d seen a dead body and not just any dead body, but the body of someone he knew. Finn Collins. Not someone that he’d ever considered himself a fan of, but it was someone he knew from around. Fuck. He knows there’s no way that she killed him—she doesn’t have it in her. Or at least he doesn’t think that she does.

He shakes his head to clear it. That doesn’t matter. Even if she did, he’ll help her cover it up. No questions asked. Why? Because she was his friend. But the phone call he is about to make isn’t one that he wants to make because this phone call is to tell them that it could all blow up in their faces.

With a sigh, he dials the number and puts the phone to his ear. Better to get it over with now so they can figure out what to do.

The tone rings a few times before a woman picks up. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me. We have a problem.”

“Hang on.” There are some muffled noises before she comes back. “Sorry, what’s up?”

“The night clerk. He remembers seeing her that night. He can place her there.” He closes his eyes, afraid of her reaction.

There’s a pause. “That’s fine. We already have a story. She went to Finn’s room after prom but left in the middle of the night. She’s been with me since Saturday.”

“Oh.” He lets out a sigh of relief. “Of course you thought of this already. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do.”

“That’s okay. We’ve got this covered. Don’t worry.” Another pause. “And thank you.”

“Of course.” He laughs. “You know I’d do anything for her—hell, even for you if you asked.”

“I know and if it weren’t for you we’d be screwed. But don’t worry about it. We have a story and we’re sticking to it. We’ll keep her safe.”

“We have to keep her safe.” He swallows hard. “Alright, well I’ll talk to you later then?”

“Yup. Bye.”

He lets out another sigh as he lets the phone fall to the bed. Okay, that wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. They have a plan—of course, they have a plan. She’ll be fine.

* * *

**February 12, 2021**

Clarke loves being on the student council for many reasons, but today’s reason is that she gets to spend the day spreading the love to her fellow students. Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday this year, so she gets to spend all day Friday handing out the gifts that the students have purchased for one another. This year they have the usual roses and candies for purchase, but they also had the option to have a hand-delivered letter which turned out to be a huge success. This year has been one of their best years for raising money and not having to rely just on the school’s donors for their events. 

The upside of most of the students having a disposable income is that they’re willing to lavish their friends and significant others with gifts. Clarke herself has only gotten Bellamy something for his first and last period. She knows that he will complain that it’s too much, but she loves giving. She knows that Valentine’s Day is just a corporate holiday so that companies can make money, but she loves it. It’s more that she loves love and wants to help others celebrate it. Which is why she always volunteers to hand out Valentine’s Day gifts. She loves seeing people’s faces light up when they realize someone has gotten them a gift. And she _always_ tries to be the one to deliver her friend’s gifts, because she loves seeing them happy. 

Her first stop is Bellamy’s first period class with Mr. Pike where she will get to deliver gifts to him, Josie, and Wells. She pushes the stocked cart to the classroom before knocking lightly. Mr. Pike opens the door and Clarke grins up at him. “Deliveries!” she all but sings loud enough for the students to hear as well. 

Mr. Pike rolls his eyes but gestures for her to come inside. She grabs the candy to be delivered, calling out student’s names and bringing them over when they raise their hand. The last candy she drops on Bellamy’s desk and plants a quick kiss on his cheek, blushing slightly when Mr. Pike clears his throat. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

She rushes back to the front of the room and grabs a handful of roses, once again calling out students’ names. When she has just a single red rose left in her hand, she grins at her sister before handing it over. “I always save the best for last.” 

Josie’s smile is soft when she takes the rose from Clarke, gently touching the petals. Clarke had been the one to make Gabriel’s purchase for him since he’s no longer a student and she knows that Josie will be receiving a single red rose in each of her classes that day. 

Clarke shoots Mr. Pike a smile as she heads back to her cart. “Just one more and then I’m out of your hair.” There had been no letters to deliver this period, but she grabs a vase holding a dozen red roses before turning around, eyes zeroing in on Wells. She shoots him a grin as she sets them down on his desk. “Looks like Roan has gone a little overboard.”

“What? Roan go overboard? Never?” Wells rolls his eyes, but his smile is soft as he looks at the roses. “It’s sweet, though.”

“Yeah, it is.” Clarke squeezes his hand lightly before heading back to the front of the room. “Thank you, Mr. Pike.” She grabs a candy off of the cart and tosses it to him - it’s something she always does to make up for the fact that she’s interrupting their classes. She always gives the male teachers candy and the female teachers a rose. It’s the least she can do for being an interruption. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

She moves onto her next classroom and spends the next three periods similarly - three classrooms a period. At lunch, she just grins at everyone looking so happy. Clarke had sent Josie, Wells, Lincoln, Miller, Raven, and Octavia gifts in their fourth period so they hugged her and thanked her. But she couldn’t stay long because she had to get ready for the last two periods of the day. 

By the time she makes her last delivery of the day she is exhausted - her face hurts from smiling so much. She always forgets how much work is involved in handing out gifts, but that’s okay. Moments like when she’d handed Raven a white rose from a secret admirer made it all worthwhile: a smile lit up her face as she read the note. It was a great day.

She pushes open the door to the student council office and looks around, knowing that she will have gifts as well. For the students that spend their day bringing joy to others, their gifts are stored here until the end of the day. Clarke grins when she sees a placard with her name on it, gifts spread out beside it. A yellow rose from Wells and a pink rose from Josie. Candy from Raven and Octavia. A single red rose from Bellamy with a letter that she tears open.

Clarke smiles as she reads the letter. It’s not much, but she knows that it came from his heart. And she can’t wait to spend Valentine’s Day with him either. She doesn’t know what he has planned, but she can’t wait to find out. She folds it closed and glances at her last gift just as the last bell rings, unsure of who it could be from. There are a dozen lavender roses and they are beautiful. There is no name on them, but there is another letter and she assumes that it is from the same person. 

“Clarke?” Josephine pushes open the door just as she is crumpling up the letter.

Clarke’s head jerks toward her sister, her heart hammering. Whoever wrote this letter–there is something wrong with them. She can’t shake the feeling that something is _very_ wrong. Her hands are shaking as she moves to pick up the lavender roses and throw both them and the letter away.

“What are you doing Clarke?” Josephine frowns at her as she fishes the letter from the trashcan. “What is this?”

Clarke tries to rip it from her hands, but Josie turns her back to Clarke as she reads the letter. When she turns back to Clarke her eyes are wide. “We need to tell someone about this, Clarke. This is not okay.”

Clarke shakes her head. “I’m sure it’s just someone screwing with me.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Josephine shakes her head as she holds up the letter. “This is serious. This person sounds deranged.” 

Clarke grabs her bag from the bin that she’d stored it in that morning. “Look, Jos. I just want to forget about it, okay? Can we get out of here now?”

Clarke looks back and sees Josie putting the letter into her bag, but she doesn’t care enough to stop her. Let her keep it if she wants. Clarke just wants to forget about it. She forces herself to smile as Josie links arms with her. 

“Sure, Clarkey. Let’s go home so we can get ready for our double date tonight.”

* * *

**February 13, 2021**

Josephine smiles up at Gabriel as she leans against him. It’s the Saturday before Valentine’s Day and with Abby out of town with Marcus again, the Griffin twins decided that a party is in order. It was Clarke’s idea that they hold a masquerade because, as she pointed out, what’s the point of just having another boring party?

Now their friends and classmates are dressed to the nines with masks covering their faces. Some have chosen to paint on masks, some wear partial masks, and there are even a few people who are wearing full masks. The problem with that is that she can’t tell who half the people are there unless she were to talk to them—which she knows is the point of a masquerade, but as her eyes scan the room she finds her heart rate picks up, her arm hairs feel like they’re standing on end—it’s unnerving. 

Which probably goes back to her worry over her sister. She’s felt like something was off ever since she’d walked in on Clarke and found that creepy note that someone had sent her. All night last night while they were out with Gabriel and Bellamy, her mind had kept returning to it. Then again all day today and while they were getting ready. She’s been trying to push it aside, but there’s this feeling deep in her that something is seriously wrong and she doesn’t know how to shake it. 

So she’s sure that part of her discomfort with the mask stems from her worry over Clarke, but that doesn’t make it any better. She’s spent half the night with her eyes darting around wondering if the person she was looking at was the person that had sent Clarke that note.

“You okay?” Gabriel looks concerned as he watches her.

She gives him a small smile, on one hand, grateful that he knows her so well but also slightly annoyed that he can see right through her facade. “Yeah, just worrying about something with Clarke. Overthinking and turning it into something more than what it is.” She waves her hand dismissively. “But this is a party and we should be having a good time.”

“Oh, I _am_ having a good time.” Gabriel kisses her softly, sending shivers up her spine. “Any time I spend with you is a good time.”

And now she’s melting in his arms—which she knows is exactly what he knew she would do. God, she does love this man. And since they finally slept together again at the Winter Formal, their relationship has felt more comfortable. She feels more comfortable. She loops her arms around his neck and pulls him down for a deeper kiss, not caring who sees them. 

Someone clears their throat beside them causing Gabriel to pull away and for her to sigh deeply. She _hates_ being interrupted. “What?” She knows that she’s being short, but damn it she was kissing her hot ass man and she did not want to be interrupted.

Bellamy pushes up his mask. “Sorry to interrupt. I was just wondering if you’ve seen Clarke? She wasn’t feeling great earlier so she went to lie down and I just checked her room, but she’s not there. I can’t find her anywhere and no one seems to have seen her.”

And just like that the feeling that something wrong is back and threatening to drown her. Why had she ignored it even as it had grown? Fuck. “You’re sure no one has seen her?”

“No one I asked has.” Bellamy shrugs, his concern apparent. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Josephine’s eyes scan the room as her hands begin to shake. She spots Emori, rushing over to her with Gabriel and Bellamy right behind her. “Mori?”

Emori turns from the guy she is talking to, smiling at her. “Josephine. What’s up?”

“Have you seen Clarke?” Josephine’s chest is tight and she’s finding it hard to breathe. She recognizes the signs of an oncoming panic attack and tries to calm herself.

“Not since shortly after I got here. Last I saw she was dancing with him.” Emori gestures to Bellamy.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Josephine curses under her breath. She tries to calm herself, relaxing slightly when Gabriel grabs her hand.

“Let’s not freak out yet, okay?” Gabriel raises his eyebrows until she nods. “Let’s split up and ask around. See when anyone last saw her.”

Josephine nods, eyes wide as they meet Bellamy’s. They’re both trying to reassure one another, but the panic is obvious. She scurries off and starts questioning her guests, not caring if she’s being rude. The knot of dread in her stomach continues to grow the more people that she speaks to. 

Twenty minutes later and she realizes that Clarke isn’t the only one missing. She can’t find a few of their friends so maybe she just went somewhere with one of them. That’s what she keeps trying to tell herself as she heads back to where Gabriel and Bellamy are waiting by the front door.

“Any luck?” Bellamy questions.

Josephine shakes her head. “Nothing. No one has seen her, but it looks like others are missing as well, so maybe they went somewhere and just forgot to tell us?”

“Yeah, because that sounds like Clarke.” Bellamy shakes his head. “What do we do now? I’ve tried calling her phone, but it’s going straight to voicemail.”

Josephine pulls out her phone and pulls up the Find My Friends app. “Her phone is not showing up. Something’s wrong—I can tell. We have to find her.”

“Okay, so I think the best course of action would be to stop the party. We’ll get everyone to go out the front door, I’ll watch the back door. Have everyone take off their masks and figure out who all is missing.” Gabriel is nodding. “Then we can start calling them while one of us searches the house to make sure that she’s not here somewhere.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s a good idea.” Josephine is already moving toward the DJ. “Bellamy, stay at the front door, I’ll be back in a minute.” She quickly speaks with the DJ who immediately turns off the music. Josephine steps onto a chair with the help of the DJ. “Party’s over. Masks off as you exit please and I don’t want to hear any complaints.” Her eyes narrow as she looks over the crowd. “Well, MOVE!”

Josephine pushes her way back through the crowd until she reaches the front door. If she weren’t so worried, she would be smiling over how well everyone has listened to her. Everyone is filing toward the door, masks in hand. It doesn’t take long for everyone to file out and then she leaves the guys at the doors as she hurries through the house, but there’s no sign of Clarke.

Her heading is pounding as she runs down the stairs. “She’s not here. There’s no one here. Where is she?” She can feel herself breaking as the tears start falling down her cheeks. Where is her sister? She collapses against Gabriel as he wraps his arms around her. 

“I didn’t see my sister either.” Bellamy shakes his head. “She didn’t tell me she was leaving. I need to call her.”

Gabriel holds up his hand to stop him. “Wait, one second. Who all was missing? We can split up the names and call them.”

Josephine closes her eyes, willing her fear and distress to subside—or at least pushing them down far enough so that she can function. “I didn’t see Murphy, Finn, Gaia, or Echo.”

“My sister, Lincoln, and Raven as well.” Bellamy’s face is pale as he looks between the other two. “I’ll call them. Can you call the others?”

“I’ve got Gaia and Echo. Let me get you Murphy and Finn’s numbers, Gabriel.” Josie’s phone is in her hand and she is already scrolling through her contacts. 

“O?” Bellamy’s voice is loud in the quiet house. “Thank God you’re okay.” He pauses for a moment. “Oh, Lincoln took you home? Good, that’s one less person that I have to call.” Another pause. “No one has seen Clarke since the beginning of the party. She went to go lay down, but when I went to check on her she was gone. We broke up the party, but others were missing too so we’re trying to track them down now to see if she’s with them.” He takes a deep breath. “No, it’s fine. Stay home, but can you ask Lincoln to stay with you? I don’t want you alone while we’re looking for her. I love you.” 

“Well, we know she’s not with them.” Gabriel runs a hand down Josephine’s arm. “Let’s start calling the others, okay?”

Josephine nods, quickly dialing Echo and then Gaia—both straight to voicemail. “God damn it. Why are those bitches’ phones off?”

“Raven’s not answering either.” Bellamy’s brow is pinched and Josephine realizes that he’s worried about his friend as well.

“Finn went straight to voicemail. Murphy’s rang and then went to voicemail.” Gabriel sighs as he slides his phone into his pocket. “What now? Where else can we check?”

Josephine’s head shoots up. “The Empire. If Murphy left he’s probably there and maybe Clarke is with him.”

“Yeah.” Bellamy nods. “That makes sense. Maybe they left because the party was too noisy for Clarke and Raven is probably with them. Let’s go.”

They quickly rush outside and into Gabriel’s car who speeds down the road toward The Empire. What should have been a 15-minute drive takes them less than 10 and Josephine is out of the car before Gabriel can even put it into park. She hears him call out to the valet but doesn’t slow down. 

Gabriel and Bellamy catch up to her just as the elevators slide open and they rush inside, pressing the P for the penthouse. Josephine slides her hand into Gabriel’s and squeezes. “She’ll be here, right? She has to be.”

Bellamy is nodding along with her. “Of course she is. That makes the most sense.”

The doors open with a ding and Josephine pulls the keycard from her purse. “Thank God for Murphy making sure that Clarke and I have cards in case of emergency.”

“Shouldn’t we at least try to knock first?” Gabriel begins to ask as Josephine slides the card into the reader.

She glances over her shoulder at him and shakes her head. “No. Why would we do that?” She pushes the door open, stepping inside as she calls out, “Clarke? Murphy?”

“Shit!” There’s a thud from the bedroom followed by the sound of people moving around quickly.

Josephine rushes through the living room, pushing open the door to reveal a half-naked Raven and Murphy, but no Clarke. Raven ducks down behind the bed as she pulls her shirt over her head. Murphy is frowning as he looks them over, pulling up his pants.

“What the hell, Josie?” Murphy sounds pissed.

“Is Clarke here?” Bellamy asks as he steps into the room, eyes falling to Raven. He lifts his eyebrows in surprise. “Well, at least you’re okay.”

“Why the hell would Clarke be here?” Raven stands up, now fully dressed.

Murphy steps forward, still without a shirt and leaving his pants undone. “Seriously, what the hell is going on? You can’t just charge into my hotel room anytime you want, Josie.”

“Clarke is missing!” Josephine yells as the tears begin to fall once more as despair threatens to drown her once more. She’d been so sure that Clarke would be here, and now she has no idea what to do next.

Gabriel pulls her into him again and speaks over her head. “No one has seen Clarke since she went to go lay down at the beginning of the party. Others were missing from the party who had been there so we’re trying to track them down to see if she’s with them.”

Murphy’s anger is gone in an instant as he pales. He grabs his shirt off the ground. “Who else was missing?”

“That we haven’t been able to get a hold of? Just Echo, Finn, and Gaia and their phones are off.” Bellamy begins pacing. “What do we do now?”

At that moment, Josephine knows that she has to share the note that Clarke had gotten the day before. Maybe it’s related. She pulls away from Gabriel. “I don’t know if it’s related or not, but Clarke got a note from someone via the Valentine’s exchange. It was anonymous, but it felt sinister to me.”

“What note? What the hell are you talking about? Clarke didn’t say anything about that to me.” Bellamy frowns.

“I don’t think she would’ve told me either if I hadn’t walked in on her when she was throwing it away.” Josephine shakes her head. “She tried to tell me that it was nothing—to just forget it—but I took it from the trash can. It’s at the house.”

“We need to call the police,” Murphy says. “This could be serious.”

“Should we go to the house and get the note first?” Raven asks quietly as she steps up beside Murphy who pulls her into his side.

“No, we need to go to the police station.” Gabriel is already leading Josephine from the room. “They’ll be less likely to ignore us if we’re there. We can always get the note later.”

The five of them pile into Murphy’s town car and the driver takes them to the police station. Bellamy stops just before they’re about to enter. “I’m going to call Miller—see if his dad can come down and help us out. He used to be a cop.”

Josephine nods, not stopping as she pushes open the door. The cop behind the desk gives them a funny look as they stumble inside. “Can I help you with something?”

“My sister is missing.” Josephine pulls out her phone, pulling up a recent photo of Clarke. “Clarke Griffin.”

The man nods slowly. “Okay, I’m going to need a little bit more information than that.”

Josephine opens her mouth to snap at the man, but stops when Gabriel’s hand wraps around her upper arm and squeezes. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before speaking, “We were having a party at my house and she went to lay down because she wasn’t feeling well. When we went to go look for her she was gone. Her phone is off and she’s not with any of our friends. I need you to help me find her.”

“Right, so where are your parents?” The man just stares at her.

“My dad is dead and my mom is out of town with her new boyfriend. Not that I see what that has to do with anything,” Josephine huffs.

“Sounds to me like your sister decided to ditch your party and go sneak off with some boy.” The officer rolls his eyes. “You Upper East Siders are so dramatic. I’m sure that she’ll be back in the morning before your mom gets home.” He reaches down to pick up the phone that began ringing. “Arkadia PD. How can I help you?”

Was he fucking kidding? Josephine reaches over the counter and presses the button the hang up the phone. “How about you finish with us before you start _trying_ to help someone else, huh?”  
  


“Josephine,” Gabriel warns.

“No. If this asshole thinks that he can just dismiss us without doing anything he is wrong. I’m not leaving here until you do something about finding my sister,” Josephine’s voice rises with every word until she is screaming at the officer.

The officer clenches his jaw. “I _hate_ working this precinct. You are all so _privileged_ and you think the whole world revolves around you. Well, guess what? It doesn’t.” He leans forward, hands on the counter as he gets close to Josie’s face. “And if you don’t leave now I’ll arrest you for underage drinking.”

The fucking nerve of this man. He didn’t know who he was fucking with. Josephine can and _will_ make his life a living hell. “I’m sure my lawyer would love that, Officer….what was it again?” She leans over to look at his nametag. “Shumway. Great.” She extends her hands to him. “You might as well arrest me now because I’m not leaving, but know that your job will be gone. Hell, even if you don’t arrest me I will get you fired.”

Raven steps up, laying a hand on Josephine’s arm. “I’m pretty sure that this isn’t how you’re supposed to treat people who come here looking for help from the cops. Her sister—our friend, is missing. Now you need to file a missing person’s report or get us someone who will.”

Officer Shumway laughs. “Look little girls, _you_ don’t get to tell me what to do. Now, all of you leave or I will arrest you.”

“You will do no such thing,” a deep voice reverberates through the room. 

Josephine turns around to find Bellamy standing beside Nathan and David Miller who is obviously very pissed. Josephine turns back to Shumway, smirking. “You were saying?”

Mr. Miller steps up to the desk and leans in close to Officer Shumway. “You made a big mistake here tonight, Shumway. The Commander _will_ hear about this. These kids came here because they were worried about a girl that I care very deeply for. One who doesn’t just disappear off with no word to anyone. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to wait in Commander Byrne’s office seeing as I called her on my way over. You might want to put out an Amber Alert. I’ve already left a message for her mother. You fucked up Shumway.” He turns back to the group and sighs. “I’m sorry, kids. C’mon, Commander Byrne should be in shortly. She’ll make sure that the entire force is working on this.”

Josephine sends Officer Shumway another smirk before grabbing Gabriel’s hand and following behind Mr. Miller. But her temporary high doesn’t last long as she remembers that Clarke is still missing. Where the hell is she? She has to be okay. Josephine can’t do this without Clarke. Fuck. She swipes at her tears as she tries to bring herself back under control, but she can’t seem to stop. The fear is too much. She can’t stop thinking about how Clarke could be hurt or worse. Her legs buckle and it’s only Gabriel’s fast reflexes that keep her from crashing to the ground. 

Gabriel lifts her into his arms as she collapses against him, body shaking with sobs. Clarke has to be okay. There’s no way she can survive in a world without her sister.

* * *

**February 14, 2021**

The sun is barely peeking over the horizon as Lincoln pulls his car to a stop in front of Marcus’s house, stirring Octavia from her sleep. She rubs at her eyes and turns to him. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. How long was I out?” 

Lincoln gives her a sad smile. “Twenty minutes max. I don’t blame you. It’s not like we slept at all.”

Octavia frowns as she unlocks her phone. No updates from Bellamy. “I’m guessing that they still haven’t found her. I’m going to try calling Echo and Gaia again.” She glances out the window. “Why are we at Marcus’s?”

“I can’t drive anymore, Octavia. I’m beat. I’m sorry.” Lincoln sighs deeply. “I’ve got to get a nap in before I can look anymore.”

Octavia wants to hit herself upside the head. “Of course, I’m sorry. I’m just so worried about Clarke.” She pushes open the door. “You can crash in one of the guest rooms.”

“I figured I could drive home.” Lincoln rubs the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes.

“Nonsense, you already said you’re beat. I don’t want you to get into a car accident while driving home.” Octavia shakes her head as she climbs out of the car. “Come on.” 

Lincoln sighs, but follows her out of the car. Octavia grins to herself. It had been nice to get to spend the night with Lincoln, although she would’ve preferred a better reason than Clarke being missing. With this thought she sobers, dialing Gaia again. She stops in her tracks when it actually rings. She has spent the whole night dialing Gaia, Echo, and Finn and their phones had gone straight to voicemail.

“Octavia? What are you doing calling at this hour?” Gaia’s voice is hoarse and she sounds exhausted.

“We’ve been trying to reach you all night. Clarke’s missing. Is she with you?” Octavia spins around to meet Lincoln’s eyes.

“Clarke? No. Why would she be with me?” Gaia pauses. “Wait, did you say she was missing?”

Octavia bites back on her disappointment. “No one has seen her since she went to go lie down at the party. We’ve been trying to reach you, Finn, and Echo since last night to see if you knew where she was. But all of your phones have been off.”

“Oh.” Gaia is silent for a moment. “Well, I just got home, but Echo and Finn don’t know where she is either.”

“How do you know that?” Octavia frowns.

“Well, we left the party together last night and went to a bar. We had a few drinks and did a few lines and then took something else.” Gaia laughs. “Probably not my best moment, but they were with me all night. I only remember bits and pieces, but I’m pretty sure we were all a bit too _occupied_.”

“What do you mean occupied…” Octavia trails off. “You know what, I don’t want to know. I’m glad that you guys are okay. I need to let Bellamy know.”

“Well, is there something I can do?” Gaia sounds eager and it makes Octavia narrow her eyes. 

“Just keep your phone on. Let us know if you hear anything.” Octavia’s shoulders droop. She had hoped that she’d be able to give Bellamy good news—not another dead end.

Gaia is quiet for a moment before speaking, “Maybe I should call Josephine. She probably needs someone to be there for her.”

“Seriously? Grow up, Gaia.” Octavia doesn’t bother hiding her annoyance with the other girl. “This is not the time to try and suck up to Josie. Gabriel is with her and Bellamy. The cops are looking for her. There’s an amber alert out. Just call me if you hear anything.” Octavia hangs up without waiting for a response. “I can’t even with that girl right now.”

“I take it she doesn’t know where Clarke is?” Lincoln sighs. 

Octavia shakes her head. “Nope. And apparently, she was with Finn and Echo _all_ night.” She raises an eyebrow to emphasize her point which causes Lincoln’s eyes to widen. “I need to call Bell.” She quickly dials his number.

“O? Did you guys find anything?” Bellamy’s voice is filled with hope.

Octavia closes her eyes. “Nothing helpful. I got ahold of Gaia. She was with Finn and Echo last night and they don’t know where Clarke is. We looked everywhere we could think of, Bell. We couldn’t find a trace of her.”

“Well, we’re over at the Griffins now. Abby and Marcus are on a flight back home. Why don’t you have Lincoln drive you over and we can all wait together?” The strain is obvious in Bellamy’s voice.

“We just made it back home. We’re dead on our feet. We’re going to crash for a bit and then we’ll head out if that’s okay.” She pauses for a moment. “Have you and Josie gotten any sleep?”

“I can’t sleep, O. Not until we find her. Josie is laying down right now. Don’t worry about us. Get some sleep and I’ll see you when you guys come over, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too, big brother.” Octavia looks to Lincoln as the tears pool in her eyes. “What if something bad happened to Clarke? Bellamy will be devastated. I can’t even think about what that would do to Josie. I mean, she was the first person that was genuinely nice to me at that school. She has to be okay. She has to be.”

Lincoln pulls her into his arms and holds her as she cries. Octavia is sure that he’s speaking, but she can’t focus on his words. All she can focus on are her tears and the feeling of his arms around her. She feels safe and it’s a nice feeling—one that she’s not used to feeling around anyone but Bellamy.

Eventually, her tears slow and she slowly pulls back, looking up to him. He is looking at her as if he’s seeing her for the first and Octavia’s breath hitches. She leans into him as goes up on her toes as his head starts to lower towards hers and she knows that this is it—they’re finally going to kiss.

A sudden blaring ring sounds out from Lincoln’s phone. They break apart, guilt written all over Lincoln’s face as he pulls the phone from his pocket. He glances at the screen and shakes his head. “Uh….I need to get this. Why don’t you head inside and get into bed? I’ll lock up when I finish up with the call. I know where the guest rooms are.” He stumbles away, shaking his head as he puts the phone to his ear.

Octavia watches him for a moment longer before heading to the house, quickly unlocking it as her thoughts race. This isn’t the first time that Lincoln has shown interest in her, but this is the first time that it was blatant. He was going to kiss her—of that, she is absolutely sure. If only his phone hadn’t rung. She’s often wondered what it would be like to kiss Lincoln. Maybe there is a chance for them.

She knows that Bellamy will not approve. He’ll say that Lincoln is too old even though he’s less than two years older than her. She glances over her shoulder and Lincoln is visibly upset as he stares at his phone. She turns around and heads over to him. “Lincoln? Are you okay?”

Lincoln looks up at her blinking. “Nothing. I thought that you were going to lay down.” He tries to shove his phone in his pocket, but Octavia stops him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Lincoln shakes his head, trying again to shove his phone in his pocket, but she’s having none of it. Finally, he relents and hands his phone to her.

“I’m sorry, Lincoln.” Octavia shakes her head as she hands him back his phone. “This person has no right to share our secrets, but at least yours wasn’t as bad as the one about my mom.” She tries to force a smile.

“Thanks, Octavia, but it’s not a contest.” Lincoln shakes his head. “But it’s sweet that you’re trying to make me feel better. Let’s forget about it. We need some sleep.” He places his hand at the small of her back as he begins to lead her toward the house and Octavia has no problem admitting that she really likes the new sense of intimacy between them.

* * *

Bellamy stalks across the carpet of the Griffins’ living room, eyes flicking to his phone where it sits next to Josephine’s. Josephine herself is passed out on Gabriel’s lap on the couch, having finally succumbed to sleep about 15 minutes before. There should’ve been some news by now. Clarke has been missing for 12 hours and he’s going crazy.

“Why don’t you sit down, man?” Gabriel’s voice is quiet, but it carries to Bellamy’s ears with no problem. “Take a nap. You wearing out the carpet isn’t doing anyone any good—least of all you.”

“I can’t.” Bellamy shakes his head. “Not until we find her.”

Gabriel opens his mouth to respond but is cut off by the sound of Josephine’s phone. Bellamy bolts toward the phones as Josephine shooks up, shaking her head to wake up even as she’s reaching for the phone. Bellamy crashes to his knees in front of the couch as she answers the phone.

“Hello? Mr. Miller?” Josephine’s eyes fill with tears as her eyes shoot up to meet Bellamy’s, hand squeezing Gabriel’s. “Yes, I understand. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Another pause. “Sure, we’ll let the officers drive us. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Thank you.”

“They found her?” Bellamy’s voice cracks.

Josephine smiles through her tears as she throws her arms around Bellamy. “They found her. She’s okay.” She pulls back only to throw herself into Gabriel’s embrace. “They found her in the trunk of her car in Mecha. She was bound and drugged.”

Bellamy closes his eyes, fighting against the tears. Fuck. How could anyone do that to Clarke? _Why_ would anyone do that to Clarke? It doesn’t make sense. “Where is she?”

“The hospital. I promised Mr. Miller we wouldn’t drive. There’s an officer outside to drive us.” Josephine jumps up from the couch. “He said she was in with the doctor, but hopefully we should be allowed to see her by the time we get there. He said as soon as the doctor was done the police would interview her and then we could see her.”

Bellamy is on his feet and following her before he even has time to think about it. The drive from the Griffin house to the hospital is a blur. He’s pretty sure that he falls asleep for part of it, but he can’t be sure. He’s so out of it. He’s exhausted but elated. Clarke is okay. She’s alive and she’s okay. It’s his mantra the entire time that they’re being led to Clarke’s room.

Mr. Miller swings the door open to let them in. As soon as Bellamy’s eyes land on Clarke his knees give out on him. He grabs at the doorway as Mr. Miller grabs his other arm to support him. Clarke looks so pale with dark circles under her eyes, hair lying limply on the pillow, and eyes wide as she takes them in. 

Josephine tries to hug her but stops when Clarke shrinks away from her. Clarke’s eyes seek out Bellamy’s and she looks terrified. It shakes him to his core. He’s never seen Clarke be anything but strong and she’s so scared. Bellamy rushes over, stopping at the edge of the bed—afraid to do anything to scare her. Clarke blinks up at him for a moment before launching herself into his arms, sobbing.

“It’s okay, Clarke. You’re safe.” Josephine rubs circles on her back as she speaks.

“I’ve got you, Clarke. I’ve got you.” Bellamy clings to Clarke as she clings to him and he doesn’t fight his tears this time. He’s too tired, too happy, and too worried to be able to stop them. His tears fall to her hair as her tears dampen his shirt. He doesn’t know how long they sit like this, but eventually, Clarke’s sobs subside and she pulls back.

Clarke immediately reaches out and grabs Josephine’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shrink away when you came in.”

“No,” Josephine cuts her off, “You have nothing to be sorry for. You’ve been through something awful. I would never fault you for reacting in whatever way felt right to you.” Josephine tries to smile, but it falters quickly. “Do you feel up to telling us what happened?”

“You don’t have to,” Bellamy jumps in. “If you’re not ready we can wait until you are.”

Clarke’s smile is sad as she looks between Josephine and Bellamy before her eyes fall on Gabriel. “No, I want to tell you.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I couldn’t sleep after I went upstairs, it was too loud. So I decided to go sit by the pool for a while to see if the fresh air would help. It seemed to be helping, but I thought I saw something in the bushes so I got up to check it out. Someone came up behind me and put something over my mouth. I screamed, but I guess no one heard it over the music. And then everything went black.”

Clarke’s eyes open and she turns to look at Josephine. “I woke up in a trunk. Mr. Miller told me it was the trunk of my car, but at the time I couldn’t tell. It was dark and I was tied up. I couldn’t get myself free. I screamed and screamed until I had no voice. When I lost my voice I kicked the trunk over and over. But no one came. I must’ve fallen asleep because the next thing I knew the trunk was opening and Mr. Miller was there.”

“Clarke!” Abby’s voice is high pitched as the door flies open. Abby runs for the bed, pushing Bellamy out of the way as she pulls Clarke in her arms.

Bellamy glances up to see Marcus standing in the doorway, his face neutral. He nods at Bellamy when he realizes he has his attention.

“Are you okay, baby?” Abby is grasping Clarke’s face in her hands.

“Mom, let up, will you?” Josephine rolls her eyes.

Abby turns to Josephine, eyes flashing. “How could you let this happen?”

“Excuse me?” Josephine’s back straightens, eyes wide as she regards Abby. “Are you seriously blaming _me_ for this?”

“Mom, please…” Clarke’s voice is weak as her eyes turn to Bellamy, pleading.

Bellamy turns back to look at Marcus who lets out a sigh. “Abby, I don’t think that this is the time or place to discuss this. You should go talk to Clarke’s doctors.”

“Mom, I want to go home.” Clarke grabs hold of Abby’s arm. “I don’t want to stay here.”

“But Clarke,” Abby starts to argue.

“No, Mom.” Clarke shakes her head. “ _Please_ get me out of here. I can’t be here. I need to be at home. I don’t feel safe here.”

Abby regards her for a moment before nodding. “Fine, I will go talk to your doctors and I will see when we can get you released.” Her shoulders droop for a moment. “I’m so glad that you’re safe, baby. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.” She glances over at Josephine for a moment. “To either of you.”

Bellamy watches as Abby shoots both her girls a smile before heading from the room, Marcus trailing behind her. “Are you sure you should go home so soon?”

“I have to. I need to be home, Bellamy.” Clarke shakes her head as tears begin to fall down her face once more. “I don’t feel safe here. I’ll be safe at home.”

Bellamy wants to argue—after all, she’d been abducted from her house, but he couldn’t argue with her when she looked at him like that. But she would be surrounded by all of her friends and family and he would keep her safe. It’s another hour before Abby returns where she does her own check up on Clarke before declaring that they can go home. 

Abby tries to leave Gabriel and Bellamy to find their own rides, but her daughters refuse to leave without their significant others so Abby relents. Once the town car arrives at the Griffin home, Abby is the first one to the front door, turning her nose up at Josephine. “You guys couldn’t even shut the door behind you?”

“But we did…” Josephine trails off as Clarke starts shaking in Bellamy’s arms.

“I’ll call the police,” Marcus says as he pulls out his phone.

Bellamy shakes his head. “You do that, but I’m going in.” He hands Clarke off to Josephine before turning to Gabriel. “You coming?”

Gabriel doesn’t hesitate as he nods. “I’ll take the downstairs, you take the upstairs?”

“Great.” Bellamy steps into the house, grabbing an umbrella from the stand and handing it to Gabriel who looks at him funny. “It’s better than nothing.” He shrugs before grabbing another for himself and vaulting up the stairs.

Bellamy moves from room to room and finds no one or anything out of place. Until he reaches Clarke’s door which is slightly ajar. The hair on the back of his neck stands up. He’s almost positive that they had shut the door the last time that they’d been up there. He lifts the umbrella before pushing the door open. 

His eyes are immediately drawn to the far wall where a message has been painted in red.

  


What a fucking douche. Bellamy is shaking with anger. This bastard had kidnapped Clarke and then once they’d found her had come into her room and written this on her wall. What kind of a sick bastard did this? Why would they do this? He’s sure that it was the same person that had written the letter to her. Now he just has to figure out who the hell it is and beat the shit out of them. Clarke doesn’t deserve this.

“Find anything?” Gabriel stops suddenly in the doorway. “Shit.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Bellamy shakes his head, taking out his phone to take a quick picture. “We need to tell Marcus so that the police know. Clarke doesn’t need to see this.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Gabriel pulls the door shut behind them as they leave, heading down to find the Griffins and Marcus standing by the town car.

“Did you find anything?” Marcus asks.

Bellamy glances at Clarke before nodding. “The police will want to check out Clarke’s room.” He shows Marcus his phone.

Clarke gasps, having walked up behind him while he’d been speaking. “No...I can’t. I don’t want to be here.” She wraps her arms around herself as she starts crying again.

“Of course not. None of you are staying here tonight.” Marcus shakes his head. “Abby, Josephine. Why don’t you get what the three of you will need for a few days and we’ll go to my place? Bellamy, why don’t you get Clarke in the car? She doesn’t need to go in there.”

Bellamy is already gathering Clarke into his arms and helping her into the car. He doesn’t know what to say to her—doesn’t know how to make this okay for her. Because it’s _not_ okay. So he just holds her as she cries.

“Why is this happening to me, Bellamy?” Clarke asks as she looks up at him. “Why would someone want to do this to me?”

“I don’t know, Clarke. I just don’t know.” Bellamy’s head shoots up to find Josephine standing just outside the door. Her eyes dart between Clarke and himself, the pain is written all over her face. She doesn’t know how to help her sister any more than he does. “Josie? Why don’t you come and sit with me and Clarke? I think she needs you right now.”

Josephine doesn’t pause as she climbs in and onto the other side of Clarke. They settle in with Clarke in between them, clinging to both of them. His eyes meet Josephine’s again and she looks determined. 

Bellamy doesn’t know how, but he knows that he will figure out who is doing this to Clarke. He will find a way to keep her safe. He won’t let Clarke live in fear, always looking over her shoulder every day. He knows what it’s like to live like that and no one should ever have to do that—let alone Clarke. Clarke who is nice to everyone and thinks of everyone before herself.

As Gabriel, Abby, and Marcus climb into the car, Bellamy closes his eyes and breathes deeply. They’ll all keep her safe, make sure that she knows that she is loved. And he’ll figure out who is messing with her and he’ll deal with it. Period.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March comes with everyone still trying to figure out how to deal with what happened to Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Story is on a temporary hiatus. Hoping to get it up and running again in January**
> 
> Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting chapter! As usual, there are some dark topics in here so just beware as you read!
> 
> If you're interested in seeing what else I'm writing and what my planned publication dates for that is, please check out my Tumblr post [HERE](https://sparklyfairymira.tumblr.com/post/632973715782729728/prompt-fic-updates). 
> 
> Moodboard by the lovely [Elora Lane](https://elora-lane.tumblr.com/) can be viewed [ HERE ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8bd62559f961510210b7daf424f0e4af/94c54c19b580b33d-ae/s500x750/6db66b5261319340e49fafa67199b16cf14b5b3a.jpg). But also I prompted the amazingly talented [Bri](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/) through [The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com/) for some art to go with the fic which you can see [ HERE](https://underbellamy.tumblr.com/post/627966436600643585/requested-for-t100fic-for-blm-by). Please check it out and give her all the love that she deserves.
> 
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**May 27, 2021**

  


  
  


**March 17, 2020**

Josephine sits in her room, staring at her phone. She knows that she needs to shake out of this funk—this isn’t the time to get lost in her thoughts. But she doesn’t know what to do. She’s so worried about Clarke. God, poor Clarke.

Ever since she’d been kidnapped Clarke had been having night terrors—the kind that wake up everyone in the house, not to mention whoever is sleeping with her in her room. Between Josephine, Bellamy, and their other friends, Clarke has not been left alone for even a minute—including to sleep. 

Josephine had hoped that constantly being surrounded by her friends would make Clarke feel safe, but it hasn’t seemed to make a difference. Clarke has been so withdrawn since that day and it’s not like Josephine blames her. She can’t even begin to imagine what Clarke went through or how she felt. It is unimaginable. 

And as if that isn’t bad enough, Clarke’s damn stalker has been leaving her “gifts” every day. Letters, roses, stuffed animals—you name it, they’re leaving it. Josephine tries to get to them first and hide them, but sometimes Clarke beats her to it. Which leads to her locking herself in her bedroom as she sobs.

Josephine doesn’t know what to do—how to make it better. She’s had many conversations with Bellamy and Gabriel trying to figure out what they can do for her, but they haven't been able to come up with anything other than to just be there for her. The one upside of all of this is that Clarke and Bellamy seem to be growing closer—which isn’t something that Josephine ever thought she’d see as a positive, but he makes Clarke feel safe and that means the world to Josephine. 

Josephine glances at the wall that she shares with Clarke, wondering what they’re doing right now. She’d wanted to hang out with them, but Clarke had been adamant that it just be she and Bellamy. She’d think that they were having sex, but Clarke has already admitted that they still haven’t slept together. So she apparently just didn’t want her twin sister around—which hurts, but Josephine is sucking it up because it doesn’t matter how she feels.

She glances at her phone again and sighs when she realizes Gabriel is still in class. It’s not like she doesn’t have things to do. She has homework and she has friends so she doesn’t have to be sitting in her room alone, but she’s a little unsettled at the moment. Today there had been not only a letter waiting for Clarke when Josephine had arrived home, but there had also been one waiting for her. She drops her phone on the bed and picks up the letter again.

  


What the hell could this stupid asshole know about her? The abortion had been her only real secret. She can’t think of anything off the top of her that they could be referring to, but then again it’s not like she always remembers her actions after a heavy night of drinking. And there had been a lot of those nights since she’d turned 14. Less now that she’s back with Gabriel though, so at least there’s that.

Ugh, and poor Gabriel. His secret about being an alcoholic splashed across the damn internet for everyone to see. And it was all her fault. If they hadn’t gotten back together then he never would’ve been in the crosshairs of this asshole. Which just pisses her off more, because she’s happy that she’s back with Gabriel and she doesn’t want to regret that. It’s not fair. 

But also, does this mean that Clarke’s stalker and the person posting the secrets are the same person? Or are they two people working together? Or is the stalker just trying to take credit for someone else’s work? Or is there a whole group of people that are doing both? She has no fucking idea.

Josephine groans in frustration. This isn’t in her wheelhouse. She’s not a fucking detective. The damn police are useless. They’ve found out nothing about Clarke’s kidnapping. They won’t investigate the Twitter account because they say that they’re not doing anything illegal. Marcus’s private investigator hasn’t been able to find out anything and even Raven, who is a literal genius, hasn’t been able to track down this anonymous Twitter user. Twitter is useless. They won’t take down the tweets or ban the account because they’re not doing anything against their guidelines. It’s all a bunch of fucking bullshit and there’s not a damn thing that Josephine can do about it.

She grabs her phone when it rings and smiles when she sees Gabriel’s picture light up the screen. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey, Jos.” Gabriel sounds tired. “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it tonight.”

Josephine’s shoulders droop, but she keeps her voice positive. “Hey, that’s okay. But are you okay? You sound tired.”

Gabriel laughs and it’s a bitter sound. “I got called into the Dean’s office today. I got a stern talking to about the kind of behavior that they expect from their students. I’m required to go to counseling twice a week and I’m on probation.”

“Seriously? They can’t do that!” Josephine pauses. “Wait, can they do that?”

“They can and they did.” Gabriel sighs. “And all of my classmates are talking about me like I can’t hear them, but I can most definitely hear them.”

Josephine closes her eyes. “I’m sorry, Gabe. This is all my fault. If we hadn’t gotten back together-”

“No,” Gabriel cuts her off. “This is _not_ your fault. This is the fault of the asshole who thinks it’s appropriate to spread other people’s business across the internet for the whole world to see.” He pauses. “I don’t blame you in the least and you shouldn’t blame yourself either. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Josephine feels tears prickling at her eyes. She does love him, but she thinks that it’s selfish to keep seeing him when if they weren’t together he wouldn’t have to be dealing with all of this crap.

“I can hear you thinking,” Gabriel speaks softly. “You’re not going to break up with me. I won’t let you. We’re in this together, babe.”

Josephine laughs as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works when you break up with someone, Gabriel.”

“It does if you break up with me because I just won’t let you—at least not over this.” Gabriel laughs. “I’m sorry about tonight, but I promise that I’m all yours tomorrow night, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll let you get back to it. I love you.” Josephine doesn’t bother to fight the smile that spreads across her face.

“I love you, too, Jos. Call me before you head to bed, okay?” 

“I will.” Josephine ends the call, tossing her cell phone to the side. She’ll tell him about the letter tomorrow. It’s not like it’s going anywhere.

“Gabriel?” Her mom’s voice startles Josephine. “Sorry.” Abby holds her hands up in surrender. “I come in peace, I promise.”

Josephine’s eyes narrow on her mom as she subtly slides the letter out of sight. Her mom had not reacted well to the news of Gabriel’s alcoholism—which had come as a surprise to no one. For the last month, Josephine has only spoken to her when it involved Clarke. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry.” Abby steps into the room, wringing her hands. “I haven’t been treating you and Clarke fairly—blaming you for your secrets being spread all over the internet. It wasn’t fair.”

Josephine continues to watch her mom, not sure where this is going. She doesn’t trust the words. She doesn’t trust her mom. So she chooses to sit in silence and wait to see what else is coming because there’s no way that there isn’t a catch.

“Can I sit?” Abby gestures to Josephine’s bed and waits for Josephine’s nod before sitting. “I’m sorry that I haven’t been here for you and Clarke since your dad died. I know that I buried myself in my work and I wasn’t here for either of you. And then I blamed you for making mistakes when I wasn’t here to help direct you.”

Josephine shrugs, uncomfortable. She and Clarke had always been closer to their dad than they had been with their mom. Then when he died they’d lost not just one but two parents. Which had been fine for Josephine and Clarke—they’d just learned to take care of one another. “Why now, Mom?”

Abby sighs. “Well everything with Clarke has all of us on edge and I know that if I’d have been around more maybe I would’ve known that something was going on sooner.” She shrugs. “I know it’s too little too late, but I’m sorry for the way that I reacted when your secrets came out. And Gabriel’s. It wasn’t fair of me to judge all of you. I’m going to try to do better. I am.”

“And how much of this has to do with Marcus?” Josephine lifts an eyebrow as she watches her mom. It doesn’t feel like an act. It doesn’t feel fake. Her mom sounds genuine in her words, but Josephine doesn’t know how long it’ll last.

“Marcus has helped me realize that I haven’t been the best mom to you two.” Abby looks sheepish. “I hate that I had to have someone else point it out to me. But I promise that I’m going to do better. In fact, why don’t you pick a night and invite Gabriel over? I owe him an apology too. We can have a family dinner with him. I’ve already spoken to Clarke and Bellamy and apologized to them. I know I haven’t been the best person, but I’m hoping that you’ll at least give me a chance to be better.”

Josephine shrugs. “Sure, Mom.” 

Abby leans over and wraps Josephine in her arms. “I love you, Josie.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Josephine squeezes her mom for a moment before pulling back. “I’ve got some homework that I need to work on.”

“Of course!” Abby jumps up off the bed and heads for the door, turning around to shoot her a smile before closing the door behind her.

Josephine lets out a sigh. She doubts that her mom’s new leaf is going to stick, but she appreciates the fact that she’s putting in an effort. But since she no longer has plans for the night, she figures she might as well get to work on some homework before bed. Gabriel would be so proud.

* * *

**March 19, 2021**

Wells hands a glass of water to Clarke, smiling at her as he sits next to her on the couch. He’s been so worried about her. She hasn’t been acting like herself, not that he can blame her. “So how are you doing, Clarke? And I mean how are you _really_ doing?”

Clarke clutches the glass between her hands as she stares out the floor to ceiling windows. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, Clarke.” Wells lays his hand on top of her. “I wish that there was something that I could do to make this better for you.”

Clarke shrugs and Wells can see that she is fighting her tears. “There’s nothing anyone can do. It’s just going to take time.” She finally looks over at him. “At least that’s what my therapist says.” She shakes her head, glancing over her shoulder to where Roan is playing pool. “Why didn’t you tell me that it was your date night? I shouldn’t be interrupting it.”

“You’re not.” Wells shakes his head. “Sure, it was date night, but we _wanted_ you to come and hang out with us. You know that we both love you and we didn’t want you at home alone.”

“Yeah, never know when someone might come to kidnap you!” Roan calls over, wincing after the words are already out. “Sorry. Too soon, huh?”

Wells narrows his eyes at Roan. “WAY too soon. Probably never going to be the right time for that.”

Clarke laughs. “No, it’s okay. It’s nice to hear someone joke about it.” She places her hand on Wells’s arm. “I’m okay, Wells.”

“Fine, then tell me about that hot boyfriend of yours.” Wells wiggles his eyebrows. “How are things going with the two of you?”

Clarke looks away, smiling dropping. “They’re good I guess.” She glances back at him, her face worried. “What if this is too much, Wells? We haven’t been together that long and now I’m a mess. How long until he gets tired of my mess?”

“Bellamy? Tired of your mess?” Roan snorts. “That’s not ever going to happen. That boy is so in love with you it’s not even funny.”

“Will you mind your business, Roan?” Wells rolls his eyes. “She was talking to me—not you.”

Roan holds his hands up in surrender. “My bad. I’ll just stay on my side of the room with my pool table and my drink.” He shoots Wells a smirk before leaning over the pool table.

Clarke laughs as she shakes her head. “The two of you are doing so well since you were forced out. How do you do it?”

“We’re the same that we always were—just out in public now.” Wells shrugs. “But we were talking about you, not me.”

“I think I’m falling in love with him,” Clarke says shyly, glancing down at her hands before looking back up at him.

Wells’s eyes drift to Roan. He remembers that feeling—the feeling of just starting to fall. He’s so head over heels in love with Roan now that it’s not but a distant memory. But he remembers it. “That’s the best feeling in the world, isn’t it?”

Clarke shakes her head. “Honestly? It scares the ever-living shit out of me.”

Wells laughs, suddenly and loud. “Of course it does, because it means you have to give control to someone else.” He leans over to boop her nose. “Something that you’re not very good at doing.”

“Whatever.” Clarke slaps his hand away before glancing back at Roan. “I’m glad that you’re happy, but it still surprises me that it’s _Roan_ that makes you happy.”

Wells shrugs. “What can I say? I like what I like. And I _really_ like that.” He gestures to where Roan is bent over the pool table, ass in the air facing them. “I mean, have you seen him?”

Clarke laughs. “Yes, yes I have seen him. He’s hot—he knows it and we all know. Stop rubbing it in that your boyfriend is so hot.”

“Mine? What about yours?” Wells shakes his head. “All dark curls and broody eyes? We _both_ have hot boyfriends.”

“That’s true.” Clarke grins.

Wells is glad to see Clarke smiling. It’s been rarer and rarer lately—which he gets, but damn he’s missed his best friend. He grins back at her as he hears Roan’s phone go off.

“Shit!” Roan yelps as he drops the pool stick on his foot. “Fuck!”

Wells and Clarke are on their feet and heading to Roan without a second thought. Wells reaches him first and places a hand on his back. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? What happened?” Thoughts rush through Wells’s mind. What has happened now? Does he really want to know?

“They found out about the accident.” Roan shakes his head. “How did they find out?”

“Accident? What accident?” Wells meets Clarke’s eyes and she looks just as confused as he feels.

Roan thrusts the phone into his hand and Clarke leans over to read with him.

  


“What if Harvard rejects me now?” Roan drops his head into his hands. “My mom is going to kill me.”

Wells stares at Roan in disbelief. “You drove drunk? And then you hit someone? And then ran?” His voice rises with each word and Wells knows that he sounds hysterical, but he can’t help himself. “And you’re worried about the fact that Harvard might reject you?”

Roan drops his hands, glancing up at Wells with wide eyes. “I didn’t know. I was so drunk. I didn’t realize what I’d done until the next morning.” He shakes his head. “I haven’t driven when I’ve been drinking since then—even if it’s just one drink.”

“You shouldn’t have ever done it in the first place!” Wells roars. He can’t believe this. He thought he knew Roan, but obviously he’d been wrong. What kind of a person does this? “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Because I knew you’d be disappointed in me.” Roan hangs his head. “It happened not too long after we started seeing each other.”

“Of course I’m disappointed in you, Roan!” Wells knows that he’s yelling and that he should calm down, but he can’t bring himself to do so. He just can’t believe the shit that is coming out of Roan’s mouth right now. “You’re acting like you didn’t have people you could call if you were drunk! Me? Clarke? Hell, even Murphy! Or you could’ve called a car. It’s not like you’re hurting for money.” He throws his hands in the air before throwing the phone back at Roan. “I can’t believe that you would do something like this!”

“Well-” Roan starts, but Wells cuts him off.

“No, you need to leave. I can’t deal with this or you right now.” Wells shakes his head before walking over to the windows. He hears movement behind him but doesn’t turn around.

“Wells, baby. Please. Just let me explain,” Roan begs.

Wells' jaw clenches as he tries to keep himself from completely losing it. “No. I said leave. Now.” He looks over his shoulder, eyes flashing. 

He doesn’t know what Roan sees in them, but he deflates before shaking his head and heading out of the room. Wells closes his eyes, flinching slightly when Clarke lays a hand on his arm.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Clarke’s voice is soft as she leans her head against his back.

Wells shakes his head. “No, I most certainly do not. I want to talk about anything _except_ that. If I talk about it I’m going to lose my shit and I don’t want to do that right now.”

Clarke nods. “I understand. Why don’t we go make some popcorn and find some cheesy rom-com to watch?”

“Can we watch _Definitely, Maybe_?” Wells turns to face her and he’s sure that he must look pathetic.

“Absolutely. You know how much I love that movie.” Clarke grins, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go make that popcorn.”

Wells lets her pull him from the room as he wonders how the hell Roan could’ve kept something like this from him. He’s not sure what to do with this information. Maybe Roan isn’t the person that Wells thought he was.

* * *

**March 20, 2021**

Bellamy pushes open the door, tossing his backpack onto the floor of the entryway. “Marcus?”

“In here!” Marcus’s voice carries from the kitchen. “I’ve got something for you.”

Bellamy heads to the kitchen to find Marcus sitting at the counter, a large envelope in front of him. “What is that?”

“I have no idea.” Marcus pushes the envelope toward him. “It came in the mail today. No return address.”

Bellamy’s brow furrows as he looks at the manilla envelope. It has his name on it and appears to have been sent from here in Arkadia, but there’s nothing else about the envelope that is remarkable. He shrugs before flipping it over and tearing it open. Pictures slide out and onto the counter. 

  


What the hell? Bellamy can hear Marcus talking to him, but he doesn’t hear the words. He shuffles through the photos until he finds a note.

  


This fucking bastard. Anger swells through him as he pushes through the photos some more until he lands on some of him from when he was dealing drugs.

  


He picks up one, eyes narrowed. He recognizes this as a cropped version of the one that the police used when they brought him in for interrogation. How in the hell did this asshole get ahold of it? His eyes flash up to meet Marcus’s. He’d been surprised that this wasn’t the secret that was revealed on Twitter. He’d thought for sure this was how they’d try to blow up his life—not by using his mom’s choices against him.

“What the hell is going on, Bellamy?” Marcus steps around the counter and looks through the photos. “What is this?”

“Clarke’s stalker,” Bellamy swears he can see red. The asshole must’ve realized that he couldn’t be scared off with just some empty threats written on a wall or in the notes that were left for Clarke. “We need to bring this to the cops, Marcus.” He picks up a photo. “This is a picture that the police threatened me with. Someone that works at the police station must’ve given it to this asshole. That means someone knows who he is.”

Marcus is shaking his head, frowning. “We can’t, Bellamy. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean we can’t?” Bellamy explodes. “We can figure out who it is finally! Clarke can get some peace of mind!”

Marcus sighs before turning his attention to Bellamy. “We can’t because I paid off the cops to get you off, Bellamy. If we show up with these,” he holds up the pictures, “we’ll both be going to jail.”

“Are you serious right now?” Bellamy yells, eyes wide. “Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you just let me go to jail? It’s what I deserved.” He slams his fist down onto the counter. They finally have a way to figure out who is tormenting Clarke and they can’t use it. How in the hell is this his life?

“I couldn’t do that, Bellamy.” Marcus shakes his head. “I didn’t know how bad things had gotten for you guys. When I found you a few years ago Aurora assured me that she didn’t need anything. She told me that she had a job as a seamstress and you guys were doing fine. She lied to me and I didn’t even know.” 

“And?”

“And I couldn’t let the fact that I’d chosen to ignore you all lead to you being arrested. So I paid off the cops. I gave Aurora money and told her to make sure that you never sold drugs again. It was right after I’d gotten back to Arkadia. I didn’t know what else to do, so I threw my money at the problem to make it go away.” Marcus sighs as he sits down onto one of the stools. “How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?”

Bellamy laughs, bitter. “There’s no way you could’ve known that there were people out there dead set on making our lives hell. But maybe throwing money at a problem to make it go away isn’t always the right choice?”

“Don’t you think I know that, Bellamy!” Marcus wipes his hand down his face. “What the hell are we going to do if they make this public? We’re _both_ screwed here, Bellamy. Not to mention Octavia who would be left without anywhere to live and both her brother and her uncle in jail.”

Fuck. He hadn’t even considered Octavia—of course, they can’t let this get out. His sister would be crushed and probably end up in the system. They didn’t have any other family. Shit. As much as he wants to find out who Clarke’s stalker is, he can’t put his sister in that position. “We can’t let it get out. That’s all there is to it.”

“I think you need to break up with Clarke.” Marcus holds up his hand when Bellamy starts to speak. “I know it’s not what you want and it doesn’t have to be forever, but this letter?” He points to the letter in question. “That is telling you to break up with her. If you don’t you run the risk of them releasing this.”

“I won’t do it.” Bellamy shakes his head. “I won’t be bullied into breaking up with her and I won’t pretend to do it either so you can forget that right now.” He starts to gather up the pictures. “I love her, Marcus, and she needs me. I won’t do that to her.” 

“But Bellamy-”

“No, Marcus.” Bellamy shoves the pictures into the envelope. “I won’t do it. If these get leaked we’ll deal with it. Maybe you’ll be able to throw more of your money at it.” Without another word, Bellamy spins on his heel and heads for the door. He grabs his backpack on the way, shoving the envelope into it.

“Where are you going, Bellamy?” Marcus calls after him.

“To Clarke’s,” he calls over his shoulder. “Where I _won’t_ be breaking up with her.”

He slams the door shut behind him. This is such bullshit. He shouldn’t have to choose between protecting Clarke and protecting Octavia. It isn’t fair. And how could Marcus think that he would break up with Clarke? Because that is not happening. He doesn’t know how he was going to handle it, but he will. And he won’t have to throw money at it like Marcus.

* * *

Clarke’s head sways from side to side with the beat of the music as her paintbrush moves across the canvas. It’s the first time in weeks that she’s felt comfortable being in her studio alone. Sure, Josephine is just down the hall in her room, but this is the first time that Clarke has felt confident enough to be in a room on her own.

Clarke sighs, letting her mind wander. She knows that Josephine has been trying to hide the “gifts” and letters from her stalker, but Clarke knows that they’re still leaving them. That scares the shit out of her, but she won’t let them run her life. She won’t stay afraid. 

When her phone pings she doesn’t think twice about picking it up. Her finger slides across the screen and she clicks on the notification without looking to see who it’s from. A video? Weird. She presses play and then screams.

  


Clarke throws the phone across the room. How in the hell did they get a video of her undressing? She lets out another scream and slams her fist into the wet canvas, punching a hole into it and smearing paint all over herself. She reaches over and grabs a jar of paint, throwing it against the wall with another scream.

The door bursts open to reveal Josephine with Bellamy right behind her. Bellamy pulls her into his arms, ignoring the paint that covered her. She was shaking, tears streaming down her face and she absently wonders to herself when that started. She clings to Bellamy as the sobs take over her and they slide to the floor. Josephine rubs her back as she tries to soothe her.

How long she cries she can’t say, and honestly? She doesn’t want to think about it. She’s spent so much of her recent weeks scared and crying and she’s tired of it. But what is she supposed to do? This person is tormenting her and she bets that they’re getting off on it. What is wrong with this world and the people in it? How is she supposed to ever feel safe again until this person is caught?

Eventually, her sobs do subside and she pulls away from Bellamy enough to look between him and her sister. “I’m sorry.”

“What happened?” Bellamy asks as he takes her face into his hands, wiping away her tears.

Clarke closes her eyes, gesturing in the general direction of her phone. “They sent me a video of me undressing in my room. I don’t even know how they took it.” She blinks, eyes meeting Bellamy’s.

A flash of anger flashes across Bellamy’s face before it smoothes out and his eyes flash to Josephine’s over her shoulder before Josephine is moving. “It’s okay, Clarke. We’re going to figure this out. Somehow.”

Clarke lets out a heavy sigh and nods. How are they going to figure this out? The police haven’t been able to find a single clue as to who it might be. But she doesn’t want Bellamy to know that she’s practically lost all hope. She’s just terrified. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry, Clarkey.” Josephine kneels beside her, taking her hand into her own. Clarke’s phone is in her other hand and she unlocks the phone, the screen shattered. The video begins playing and Josephine shakes her head in disgust before stopping it. “Son of a bitch. When I find out who this fucker is I’m going to end them.”

Bellamy clears his throat, causing both Josephine and Clarke’s attention to turn to him. He gives a slight shake of his head as he looks at Josephine and while Clarke appreciates the gesture, she understands Josephine’s anger—hell, she’d been there at one point. Now all she feels is afraid.

“I’m going to show this to Mom. We need to get this to the police.” Josephine pauses. “And get you a new phone. Bellamy, you’ll stay with her?”

“Of course,” Bellamy says as he pulls Clarke into his arms once more. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Clarke closes her eyes as she hears Josephine walk across the room and out the door, shutting it behind her. “When did you get here, anyway? I didn’t know you were here.”

She feels Bellamy laugh before she hears it. “I stuck my head in the door when I got here, but you were wrapped up in painting so I didn’t want to disturb you so I went to talk to Josie.”

Clarke leans back to look up at him, eyes narrowed. “You willingly went to talk to my sister?”

“Yes, Clarke.” Bellamy grins at her. “Believe it or not, but your sister and I actually get along pretty well now.”

“Guess all it took was me getting kidnapped and having a stalker.” Clarke means it as a joke, but it doesn’t really feel like one. 

Bellamy’s smile falls. “We would’ve figured it out eventually. We just got there a little faster this way.” He shrugs.

Clarke opens her mouth to make another joke, but what falls from her lips is anything but. “Bell, I’m scared. Terrified. I’ve been trying to be brave, but I don’t even want to leave the house. My stalker could be anyone. I don’t know how to live like this. I’m always afraid. I don’t want to go to school. I don’t want to go to Wells’s house. I don’t want to go anywhere. And now I’m not even safe in my room. What if they try and take me again?”

“Oh, Clarke.” Bellamy pulls her against his chest once more. “I wish that there was something that I could do to make this better for you. It’s not fair. It’s utter bullshit. But you know what? From now on, I’ll be at your side at all times. If not me then one of the other guys. Murphy. Roan. Wells. We’ll make sure that you’re protected.”

Tears well in Clarke’s eyes again before she forces them shut. “I’m afraid that they’ll hurt you too, Bellamy. They’re obviously deranged and they don’t want me with you.” She pauses before rushing on, “Why are you even with me? Why are you putting up with this bullshit?”

Bellamy pulls away again, taking her face into his hands once again. “Hey. I’m with you because I love you. I’d be a fool to let you go because of some asshole. I’m not going anywhere, Clarke.” He pauses. “Although I want to be honest with you and I think this might freak you more than you already are.”

Clarke’s eyes are wide as she watches him. Did he just say that he loved her? A small smile finds its way onto her face. “Did you just say that you loved me?”

Bellamy laughs awkwardly, dropping his hands from her face as he shrugs. “Yeah, I guess I did. Not exactly how I thought I’d be telling you, but yes Clarke. I’m a hundred percent in love with you.”

Clarke is still smiling as she leans up to kiss him. She pulls away before it deeps and just grins up at him stupidly. “I love you, too.”

“That’s good to hear.” He leans down to kiss her again. This time it’s him that pulls away. “I think you missed the whole second part of what I said, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I definitely stopped listening after you said you loved me. For sure.” Clarke nods as she moves until she is sitting on the ground next to him. “But I’m listening now.” Which she really is trying to do, but her mind is still on the fact that Bellamy Blake is in love with her.

Bellamy’s face turns serious. “I want to tell you what happened today, but I don’t want to upset you more. Do you want me to tell you?”

“Yes,” Clarke doesn’t hesitate as she nods. “I need to know everything that’s going on. Being kept in the dark is just going to make it worse for me. Then I don’t know what to be afraid of.”

Bellamy nods, looking around. “Damn, I left my bag in Josie’s room. I’ll be right back.” He gives her a quick kiss before jumping to his feet and heading to the door.

Clarke pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs as she watches him go. There’s a pressure in her chest, the panic clawing its way up as she tries to squash it. She closes her eyes as she leans her head against her knees. Bellamy is just going down the hall. She’s safe. Nothing is going to happen to her in the minute that he’s gone. She closes her eyes, forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths. She can do this. She’s strong enough to survive this—she has to. She keeps repeating it to herself over and over as she waits for Bellamy to return.

“Oh shit, Clarke. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” Bellamy is in front of her again—which scares her a little because she hadn’t heard him come back into the room. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. I wasn’t thinking.”

Clarke shakes her head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I have to learn to deal with this.” She gives him a small smile. “My therapist says that I have to learn to calm myself down and not rely on others so much.” She shrugs. “I’m trying.” 

“I hate this.” Bellamy sighs as he sits next to her. “I hate that you’re going through this at all. But the fact that I can’t do anything to make it better? That’s hard for me.” He shakes his head, turning an envelope over and over in his hands. “But this isn’t about me.” 

“What’s that?”

Bellamy turns to face her, face blank. “This is what I wanted to tell you about. I got it in the mail today.”

Clarke waits patiently for him to continue. She doesn’t know what it is and he was right, she’s already imagining the worst. But she wants to know—no, she _has_ to know. It’s better to fear the known than the unknown. Whatever it is, it’s making Bellamy nervous.

“I want to start by saying that I’m not proud of all of the things I’ve done in my life to survive.” He glances at the envelope again before taking a deep breath. “I’d like to think that eventually, I’d have told you about this, but if I’m honest? I’m not sure that I would have. I don’t want you to look at me differently.”

Clarke lays her hand on Bellamy’s, waiting until he turns back to her before speaking, “Whatever it is, I can take it. It won’t make me think any less of you.”

Bellamy watches her for a moment, biting his lip before nodding slowly. “Okay. When I lived in Mecha I used to sell drugs to help make money for my mom.” He continues to watch her, looking for something. She doesn’t know what he’s looking for or if he finds it, but he does continue. “I was arrested not too long before my mom’s accident. Marcus came down and got me out of it. I didn’t know how until today.” He dumps out the envelope onto the floor in front of them.

Clarke’s eyes fall to the pictures that fall out—they’re of her. Well, not all of them. She reaches out and picks up two pictures of what she guesses is a drug deal. She raises her eyebrows at him but doesn’t speak.

“That one.” He taps the picture in her left hand. “That’s the photo that the cop threatened me with after they arrested me. Whoever this is? They got this picture from the cops.”

Clarke’s eyes widen as she looks at the photo again. A cop had given her stalker a picture of Bellamy selling drugs? That means that they have a way to find out who her stalker is. For the first time in a long while, she feels hope as she glances up at Bellamy.

Bellamy laughs bitterly. “That’s the exact reaction I had, but Marcus told me that the only reason I wasn’t in jail is that he paid off the cops. If we bring this to the cops there’s a good chance that both of us will go to jail.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what to do, Clarke. If Marcus and I both end up in jail, O is going to end up in foster care.”

And just like that, the glimmer of hope that she’d felt is extinguished. “No.” She shakes her head. “Then we’re not bringing this to the cops.” When Bellamy opens his mouth to argue she cuts him off, “No. If you’re in jail I’ll never feel safe. It’s not worth it, Bell.” 

“I’m sorry, Clarke. I never thought that my past would cause an issue with us.” He shrugs. “Dumb, I know.”

“It’s not dumb and it’s in the past. So, we can’t use this. So what? Eventually, we’ll figure out who’s doing this—we have to.” Clarke turns to look at the pictures of herself spread all over the floor, fighting a shiver. She’d had no idea that she’d been being watched and someone had been taking pictures of her. It freaks her out, but she’s not going to let Bellamy see it. He’s dealing with enough guilt right now. Some of these pictures are old—one of them is from her freshman year. And then last year when she thought it would be cute to color the ends of her hair pink. How long have they been stalking her? Fuck. She notices a piece of paper under one of the pictures and picks it up, reading it quickly.

“It’s nothing,” Bellamy says when he notices what she has in her hands.

“Bullshit.” Clarke drops the paper on top of the pictures. “It’s not nothing. Bellamy, they’re threatening to reveal this. You and Marcus could still end up in jail. Maybe we should break up until this all over.”

“Absolutely not.” Bellamy grabs her hand, squeezing lightly. “If they were going to reveal this it would already be all over Twitter. They just want to scare me off and it’s not going to happen. Besides, if you break up with me I’m just going to keep showing up to keep you safe.”

Clarke can’t help her smile as she shakes her head. “You’re an idiot.”

“An idiot that’s in love with you.” Bellamy returns her smile. “So are we done with the breakup talk?”

Clarke nods slowly. “We are.” She leans over and kisses him lightly. “I can think of some better things we could do with our time.”

Bellamy grins against her lips. “I mean, I will never say no to making out with you.”

“Well, actually I had something else in mind.” Clarke pulls back, looking up at him shyly. She can’t believe that she’s about to suggest this, but it just feels right. She loves him and he loves her. And everything is so uncertain and scary. She just wants something _good_ in her life right now and that’s him. “I think it’s time that we move things to the next level.”

Bellamy’s eyebrows shoot up quickly, getting lost in the curls that have tumbled over his forehead. “I’m sorry, Miss Griffin, but I’m not sure that I’m understanding your meaning. Do you think you could spell it out for me?”

Clarke shakes her head as she grins. “You’re an asshole.” She leans forward again and kisses him as her hands slide up his chest. “I think that it’s time that we sleep together.” She pulls back. “Unless you don’t want to?”

Bellamy laughs. “Don’t want to? You do know that I’m a teenage boy right?”

Clarke laughs as she pushes him onto his back before straddling him. “I had _no_ idea. That might change things.” She cuts off whatever he is going to say with her lips, the kiss deepening quickly. 

Bellamy’s hand slides under her shirt as she tangles her own in his hair. There’s not a lot in her life that is constant right now, but he is her constant. Maybe they could’ve waited and made it more special, but to her, this is the perfect moment. They’re in love and she feels safe in his arms. As Bellamy flips them over so that she’s on her back she forces the thoughts from her mind. As Bellamy’s lips find their way to her neck she lets out a sigh. Now isn’t the time for thinking, this is the time for feeling. And boy, is she feeling things. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April brings changes that not everyone agrees with and of course, more secrets are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hello! I am SOOOOO sorry about the extended hiatus on this. Great news, we're back on track and we should see an update about every other week at this point! And there aren't that many chapters left! Woot woot!
> 
> Also, HEAVY TW for this chapter. Mentions of attempted suicide, panic attacks, and very cruel bullying of someone because they are gay.
> 
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**May 27, 2021**

The girl leans back in her chair, shaking her head. Finn had been such an idiot. Thank God he was gone. He could have seriously fucked up her plan. He’d left evidence for the cops to find, which helps her out. Now they’ll think he was the one tweeting out the secrets so she's safe for now—until she’s ready to reveal that Finn wasn’t the one giving away all of their secrets.

Killing him had been the right choice. She hadn’t been sure at first, but he’d been starting to wane on the idea of continuing to help her. All because of _her—_ the one that is going to be pinned with his murder. She smiles to herself because she knows that what she has planned is even better now. The evidence will all lead to the other girl in Finn’s murder investigation. Her smile quickly turns into a snarl at the thought of the other girl. The mere thought of the other girl’s name causes the hate to build up inside of her. All Finn had done was make it so much easier for her to get her revenge on the other girl. He just hadn’t known it at the time. When the other girl gets locked up none of her perfection will be able to save her and then, and only then, would her revenge be complete.

She clicks the browser closed on her computer. It won’t be much longer now. The planted evidence would be too much for even these idiot police to pass up. And then it would be over and she could move on with her life the way that she’s always wanted—taking her place and her life. She can’t wait.

* * *

**April 9, 2021**

Raven sits in the library, flipping through her Physics book. She’s trying to cram in some last-minute studying before her test later that afternoon. She jumps a little when Murphy plops down beside her.

“Don’t you ever do anything besides study?” Murphy asks as he leans over to look at her book.

Raven scoffs. “You know that I do.”

Murphys rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. But why is it that I always seem to find you in the library? There are other places to study. Like at the lunch table with us?”

“Right, because studying while everyone is clamoring on about nothing is so easy.” Raven lets out a sigh as she looks up at him. “Unlike you and the rest of your friends, I’m here on scholarship. I have to keep my grades up or they’ll kick me out. And being here raises my chances of being able to get a scholarship to a good college. I have no one that will pay for my college education.”

“Hey now.” Murphy tilts his head as he watches her. “I have to keep my grades up too, but you don’t see me burying my nose in a book all the time.”

Raven laughs as she shakes her head. “Yeah, you have to keep your grades up to just good enough.” She pauses before closing her book. “Murphy, you’re _not_ dumb—we both know that. If you just put in a little bit of effort-”

“Let me stop you right there,” Murphy cuts her off. “I just need to get into my dad’s alma mater and get a degree—any degree. That’s all that’s required of me to be able to take over my dad’s company. That’s all the effort I’m willing to put into it. I don’t want to be an engineer or a scientist or whatever sexy thing you’re planning to do with that genius brain of yours.”

Raven’s eyes narrow at him, but she doesn’t say anything. It’s not the first time that they’ve had this conversation and she doubts it’ll be the last. She knows that he’s not going to change his mind, so why bother? She lets out a sigh. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah, would you go to prom with me?”

Raven hums, not really processing the words. When he continues to look at her expectantly she rethinks the words that had just come out of his mouth. When she realizes what he asked she drops her pencil, eyebrows shooting up. “I’m sorry. Did you just blurt out would I go to _prom_ with you?”

Murphy leans back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table before he shrugs.

She waits for a beat and then realizes he isn’t planning on saying anything else. “What? No promposal? Nothing?”

“Does that really sound like something I would do?” Murphy questions, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Raven rolls her eyes, hand to her chest as she mocks, “What? I’m not worth it?”

Murphy’s feet drop to the floor as he leans forward, eyes narrowed. “Please do not tell me that you’re into that shit, because I really didn’t think you would be. In fact, I surmised that you’d probably murder me if I attempted to do anything of the sort.”

“You’re right, I totally would have.” Raven leans back in her chair, smirking.

“Seriously?” Murphy sighs. “What the fuck, Raven?”

Raven laughs, glancing around when she realizes how loud she’s being. She leans over until her face is level with his. “C’mon now, Murph. Did you really think I would make it that easy on you? Just say yes without giving you shit? I’ve gotta make you work for it.” She kisses him quickly. 

“So is that a yes or….” Murphy trails off as he gives her a smile.

“Yes, you dumbass, I’ll go to prom with you. But I do expect some crappy corsage and for you to take me to dinner and all of that other nonsense.” Raven grins because she can’t help herself. She’s never been this happy before. Being with Finn had been nothing like this. Murphy got her where Finn never did. 

“Oh, you’ll get the whole prom experience, I promise you that.” He shrugs. “Probably a better experience than you would’ve gotten down at Mecha since we’re rich and all.”

“Shut up, Murphy.” Raven leans over and kisses him quickly. “Now leave me alone so I can finish studying. I’ll come by your place after school.”

Murphy smirks as he stands up, leaning over to give her another kiss—this one not as quick. For a moment, Raven forgets where they are until someone clears their throat nearby. She pulls away to find Murphy still smirking at her. 

“Don’t get too cocky.”

“Too late, I already am.” Murphy drops a quick kiss to her forehead before heading toward the door.

Raven flips open her book, finding where she left off fairly quickly. Barely a minute has passed when she feels someone drop down into the seat beside her again. She doesn’t bother to look up. “Did you forget something?”

“Yeah, how easy you are.”

Raven’s head jerks to the side at the sound of Finn’s voice. She finds him sitting there, frowning. “You can go screw yourself, Finn. I’m busy.”

“Murphy? Really? That’s the best you can do?” Finn scoffs.

Raven tells herself to breathe, to let it go, to not react. But she can’t help herself. She’s still so pissed at Finn for the way he treated her. “At least he wasn’t ashamed of me.”

“Oh like you weren’t ashamed that you were seeing me.” Finn laughs. “Did you ever tell your friends that you were sleeping with me?” When she doesn’t reply he shakes his head. “I didn’t think so. You’re not better than me Raven.”

“Maybe not, but you know who is? Murphy.” Raven shakes her head at Finn. What the hell does he even want? Why is he here, bothering her?

Finn looks pissed. “That asshole is _not_ better than me.”

Raven laughs. “Yes, he is. Not only is he better in bed—which he is, trust me—but he’s a better man than you’ll ever be.”

Finn gets in her face and she’s surprised that he’s not foaming at the mouth with how pissed he is. “Well, you’re fucking slut bitch. I won’t forget this and one day you’ll live to regret this.”

He’s gone before Raven can respond, storming out of the library. She sits there for a moment just watching the door. What the hell had she ever seen in him? She can’t even answer the question. She thinks it might just be because he showed interest in her and said all the right things. 

She thinks about his threat and wonders about the dread building in her stomach. Why does his threat worry her? There’s nothing he can do to her? Right?

Fuck. She’s too freaked out to study anymore so she gathers up her books and pulls out her phone. She sends a message to Murphy. Guess she will be spending lunch with him after all.

* * *

Bellamy opens his locker, grabbing his backpack and pulling out the books he’ll need for homework that night. He glances at his watch and sighs. He’s running late because his teacher asked him to stay after class. He texted Clarke to let him know that he was running behind and she responded that she’d meet him in the parking lot. They’re going to catch a movie and if he doesn’t get his ass in gear they’re going to be late.

He walks quickly through the hallway, breaking into a run once he’s out the front doors. He knows how much Clarke hates missing the previews and seeing as this is the first time he’s been able to convince her to go out in public for a date, he doesn’t want to annoy her right off the bat. He slows when he sees her leaning against his car. His eyes narrow when he notices Josephine’s car idling two spots over. He guesses that Josephine didn’t want to leave Clarke alone while she waited for him, which he appreciates.

“Hey, babe. Sorry.” He waves at Josephine. “We should probably hurry so we don’t miss the previews.” He leans down to kiss her, frowning when Clarke ducks out of reach. “What’s up?”

Clarke isn’t looking him in the eye, staring at a spot around his shoulder. He glances down to see if he’d spilled something but doesn’t see anything. He takes a step toward her, stopping when she takes a step backward. “Clarke?”

“We need to break up, Bellamy.”

Bellamy shakes his head, sure that he's heard her wrong. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, we need to break up.” Clarke’s voice is soft as she continues to stare at his shoulder.

“Stop messing around Clarke.” Bellamy laughs. 

Clarke shakes her head. “I’m not. I’m serious.”

Bellamy lets his backpack fall to the ground as he studies her. He doesn’t understand what is going on. What happened between last night and this afternoon? When he left her house they kissed and said that they loved each other. He didn’t see her this morning—she’d texted to say that she and Josephine were running late. She and Josephine had some kind of appointment this afternoon so they were missing from lunch. He just doesn’t understand. 

“I don’t understand. What happened? What’s going on?” He reaches for her hand, trying not to be hurt when she jerks her hand out of reach.

“Nothing.” Clarke shrugs. “This just isn’t working for me anymore. So, we’re done.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on.” Bellamy takes a deep breath, trying to push down the panic. “I don’t know if you’re trying to protect me again or what, but I love you. We’re not over—we can’t be. We’re in love.”

Clarke’s eyes snap up to meet his and it’s like he doesn’t recognize her. Her eyes are cold as she regards him, her face drawing up into a sneer. “I lied when I said I loved you. I just wanted to see if I could make you fall in love with me and I did. Now I’m bored. Just accept it, Bellamy. There’s nothing between us except lies. So get over it and leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.” She laughs as she shakes her head, throwing her hair over her shoulder as she makes her way over to Josephine’s car. She doesn’t even look back as she climbs in and Josephine peels out of the parking lot.

Bellamy slumps against his car as he watches the car drive away, heart in his stomach. He just doesn’t understand. Why is she acting like this? It has to be because of her stalker, right? Because this isn’t Clarke—this is more of a Josephine thing to do. She has to be pushing him away to keep him safe. That has to be it. There’s no other explanation.

Clarke wasn’t pretending to love him. He knows that. There’s no way she could fake the love that he has seen in her eyes, written all over her face. She loves him. He knows that. Her stalker must’ve threatened her—threatened him in some way. There is no other explanation for this. There just isn’t.

He slides down the car, sitting on the pavement as he stares at his hands. He doesn’t want to be the guy that doesn’t accept when a girl breaks up with them, but this is out of nowhere, and with everything going on he just _can’t_ accept this. And Clarke isn’t cruel enough to pretend to love him. He knows her—doesn’t he?

Even as he has the thought he knows that he does. He’ll give her today to process, but he’s not giving up on her—on them. He will fight for them because he knows that she loves him just as much as he loves her. Whatever has caused her to break up with him they will deal with together. Because that’s what they do. 

Bellamy stands up, feeling better now. He’ll make it right tomorrow. He won’t let her push him away. He picks up his backpack and climbs into his car. His heart feels heavy, but he feels somewhat lighter. Tomorrow will be better. 

* * *

**April 13, 2021**

Octavia plops down beside Lincoln, grinning at him when he looks up at her. “Whatcha drawing?” She leans over to sneak a peek.

“Nothing.” Lincoln snaps the sketchbook closed. 

Octavia laughs. “Oh, come on. Let me see. It’s not like I’m going to give you a hard time for whatever you’re drawing. And I’ve heard you’re really good. I just want to see it.”

Lincoln shakes his head, looking down at the book. “It’s private.”

Octavia’s smile slips from her face as she continues looking at him. “I know you let other people see what you’re drawing. Bell’s raved about how amazing you are.”

“Well, this one is private.” Lincoln finally looks up at her.

Octavia shrugs as she rolls her eyes. “Fiiiine, I guess I don’t have to look at it.” She glances down as he sets his sketchbook on the table, but keeps his hand firmly on it as grinning up at him again. “So, how have you been? Haven’t seen you around much lately.”

“Why aren’t you sitting with your friends?” Lincoln nods his head toward the table where she usually sits for lunch.

Octavia sighs. “I’m avoiding Clarke. You know that her and my brother broke up, I assume?” She waits for his nod before continuing, “Well, I don’t really want to get in the middle, you know, with him being my brother and her being my friend. So I’ve been avoiding them both until they work their shit out.”

“I guess that’s one way to do it.” Lincoln laughs, hands finally releasing their grip on his sketchbook.

Octavia grins to herself as she leans over and grabs it, jumping up from her seat and dancing out of Lincoln’s reach. She pops it open to the last drawing and finds her face staring back at her. Her jaw drops and she doesn’t even fight when Lincoln rips the book from her hand. 

“I’ve gotta go,” Lincoln mumbles as he starts to turn away.

Octavia reaches out and grabs his arm, stopping him. He won’t meet her eyes and she sees a blush rising up his neck and onto his cheeks. “You know that I don’t care that you were drawing me right? You’re so talented.”

“Thanks.” Lincoln still won’t look up at her as he starts to pull away from her, but she stops him again.

“You made me look beautiful,” she speaks softly, eyes on him.

Lincoln’s eyes snap up to meet hers. “You are beautiful.”

Octavia grins, butterflies erupting in her stomach. “I know, but I wanted to hear you say it.”

Lincoln’s head drops, shoulders slouching as he lets out a sigh, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t understand you Lincoln.” Octavia sighs because she really doesn’t. She knows that she’s young, but she doesn’t understand the way he acts around her. It confuses her. “I don’t know why you act like you’re not interested in me when I know that you are.”

“I’m too old for you.” Lincoln’s voice is gruff, gaze remaining on the ground. 

Octavia scoffs. “Says who?”

“Me for one. Your brother for another.” Lincoln looks up at her again, shaking his head. 

“You let me worry about Bellamy. You’re only two years older than me—that’s nothing.” Octavia takes a step forward, barely able to hold in a snicker when Lincoln quickly takes a step backward.

“I’m almost three years older.” Lincoln begins glancing around, although Octavia isn’t sure if it’s to try and find a way out of this conversation or to see if anyone has noticed them. “I’m a junior, you’re a freshman.”

Octavia reaches out and grabs his hand in hers. “Age is just a number.”

“I couldn’t do that to your brother.” Octavia knows that she doesn’t imagine it when Lincoln’s hand tightens on hers before he pulls away.

“And if Bellamy _wasn’t_ an issue?” Octavia asks, taking another step forward. “Would you date me then?”

Lincoln pauses, glancing at her face again as he considers her. “Seeing as I know that your brother won’t be okay with it I feel comfortable saying yes.”

Octavia beams up at him. He is severely underestimating her desire to date him and her ability to get what she wants from her brother. “Fine. If he says yes then you take me to prom. Agreed?” She holds her hand out to him.

Lincoln laughs. “Sure, if you can somehow convince your brother that it’s okay for us to date then I will take you to the prom.” He shakes her hand, holding it for longer than necessary.

“Good.” Octavia leans up on her toes and kisses him. She feels him tense up for a moment before his lips move against hers. It’s a chaste kiss and is over almost before it began, but she’s smiling when she pulls away. “Just so you know what you’re missing out on while I’m talking to my brother.” She winks before walking away. She glances over her shoulder to see that he’s standing there dumb-founded, watching her walk away.

Octavia laughs as she does a quick scan of the courtyard to see if anyone noticed the kiss. The last thing she needs is for Bellamy to hear that they kissed before she has has a chance to talk to him. But no one seems to have noticed, so she lets out a sigh.

She knows that she will find a way to convince Bellamy that her dating Lincoln isn’t a bad thing—she’s just not sure how yet. She bites her lip as she heads back into the school. She wishes that she wasn’t currently avoiding Clarke, and therefore Josie. She knows that they would have suggestions on how to convince Bellamy that it’s a good idea. But until Bellamy and Clarke work out their shit—whatever the hell it is since Bellamy won’t tell her what the hell happened—she guesses she’s on her own. She’s a smart girl. She can come up with a plan on her own. And hopefully, it won’t take too long because she _really_ likes Lincoln and she is going to prom with him. Somehow. 

* * *

**April 16, 2021**

“You really are an icy bitch, aren’t you?” Octavia hisses before she turns away from Clarke, leaving her alone at the lunch table. 

Clarke bites her lip to keep herself from bursting into tears. It’s been a week since she broke up with Bellamy and she hadn’t realized how hard it would be. Bellamy still hasn’t given up on convincing her that they should be together—she hadn’t counted on his being so adamant. But she should’ve known better. Even if she hasn’t told him the real reason that she broke up with him he already seems to know. She has to find a way to convince him that she doesn’t really love him—with something other than words. Because she can’t let her stalker hurt him, which she knows they will. They were very clear about that. 

A week ago, she’d come home from her mani-pedi with Josephine. Yes, they’d skipped school for it and she wasn’t even sorry. Clarke and Bellamy had a date after school so she had hurried upstairs to get ready so Josephine could drop her back at school. When she threw open her door all she could do was stare in horror. There was blood everywhere—it had turned out to be stage blood, but she hadn’t known that at the time. But what had drawn her attention was the knife pinning something to her dresser and a message written in blood on the mirror.

  


What had been pinned to her dresser with the knife had been a picture of Bellamy, the knife stabbed right through his eye. 

Clarke closes her eyes as she tries to will herself back from that moment. She had never been more terrified in her life. They will hurt or kill Bellamy—she was sure of that and she couldn’t allow that to happen. So she ended things with him and went home, sobbing in her sister’s arms—just as she has every day since. 

But she has to keep her pain inside—no one can see that this isn’t what she wants. Bellamy isn’t letting up though and it is making it harder. She has almost broken down on so many occasions. She would think of something—she has to.

Clarke steels herself as she stands up, heading back into the school. Her eyes land on Bellamy and she wills her face to remain blank and passive. She refuses to let herself break their gaze as she lifts her chin and waves to him. The pain is written all over his face as he looks away, pulling Octavia along with him. 

The bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. She feels someone fall into step beside her as she heads into the school. She turns her head to find that it’s Finn.

“How are you doing, Clarke?” Finn is walking a little too closely for her tastes, but she doesn’t have it in her to react to that.

“I’m fine.” Clarke shrugs, eyes forward as they hit the hallway.

“I’ve noticed that Bellamy isn’t accepting the breakup.” Finn reaches out and touches her arm lightly causing her to stop in her tracks and look up at him. “Do you want me to deal with him for you?”

Clarke shakes her head. That’s the last thing she wants. “No, eventually he’ll get the hint that I’m not interested.”

Finn nods slowly. “I actually had a thought on that. I was thinking we could go to prom together?”

“What?” Clarke narrows her eyes at him. Had she heard him correctly? Generally, she only half listens to Finn so she thinks maybe she missed an important part of the conversation. 

Finn shrugs. “Well, if you have a date to prom then maybe he’ll see that you’ve moved on and give up. It was just an idea.” 

Clarke eyes him as she considers his words. He’s probably right. If she were to start dating someone then maybe Bellamy would give up, but pretend-dating Finn? That seems like a terrible idea. She’s well aware of the fact that Finn has had a crush on her for years—a crush that dates all the way back to middle school. She doesn’t want to give him the wrong idea because she’s not in any way interested in him. 

Over Finn’s shoulder, she sees Bellamy walking towards them and she reacts without thinking. She grins up at Finn. “I’d love to go to prom with you!” she says it louder than she needs to so that she can be sure that Bellamy hears. She throws her arms around Finn’s neck. 

Bellamy stops in his tracks, eyes wide as he watches her and Finn. He looks crestfallen, broken. Good. Now he’ll be safe.

“Thanks, Finn,” Clarke whispers in his ear before kissing him quickly on the cheek. She pulls away from him, reminding herself that she has to keep smiling. She has to smile through the pain of seeing Bellamy crushed. The pain of hurting the boy that she loves. “I think you were right. This will help.”

Finn grins down at her. “And who knows, maybe we’ll have a good time.”

Clarke forces herself to nod, eyes flashing over to Bellamy except he’s not there. She knows that she won’t have a good time. How could she? How can anything be okay now that she’s crushed Bellamy? She knows that it’s what needed to be done, but she’s never felt pain like this before. She fights tears as she turns back to Finn. “I do need to be clear. I’m not interested in dating you. This can only be for show.”

“I know.” Finn nods enthusiastically and Clarke worries that no matter what his mouth is saying he’s hoping that their fake dating will turn into something real—which it won’t. 

Clarke nods slowly, letting the smile fall from her lips finally. “Okay. Well, I better get to class.” She gives him a wave before she turns around to head to her locker. 

She can’t get the picture of Bellamy’s face out of her head. She knows that it needed to be done, but it hurts. She veers off course, heading towards the bathroom as she feels the tears building. She doesn’t know if she can do this even though she knows she _has_ to. She has to keep him safe. If something happens to him because of herself she couldn’t live with that. 

She pushes into the bathroom, checking under the stalls to make sure that it’s empty before pushing her way into the stall in the corner. Tears begin to stream down her cheeks before she’s latched the door behind her. She leans heavily against the wall as she shoves her fist into her mouth to help muffle her sobs. 

She feels sick to her stomach. It feels like her heart has been ripped from her chest—she’s a shell of the girl that she was. She pulls her phone out to message Josie. She can’t be here anymore. She can’t do this.

  


Clarke tosses her phone back into her purse as she forces herself to take deep breaths. She’s doing what she has to do to make sure that Bellamy is safe—her happiness doesn’t matter. Her heartbreak is unimportant in the long run, as long as her stalker doesn’t mess with Bellamy. She won’t be able to live with herself if something were to happen to him. She’s so tired of being scared. If she were stronger she would tell Bellamy why she’d broken up with him, but she’s not. She’s weak and scared and tired.

“Clarke?” Josephine’s voice filters through Clarke’s panic.

“Jos?” Clarke sobs out, reaching up to open the stall door.

Josephine’s face appears in the doorway and she takes one look at Clarke’s face before pulling her in for a hug. “It’s okay, Clarke. I’ve got you. What do you need?”

“Home?” Clarke closes her eyes as she leans her head against Josephine’s shoulder. She needs to be out of here. That’s the thought she keeps coming back to in the chaos of her mind.

Josephine nods before pulling back. “Let’s get you to stop crying and clean you up a bit before we leave, okay? We don’t want anyone to know that you were upset.”

Clarke nods as Josephine leads her out of the stall. Clarke forces herself to stop the tears, to retreat into the ice fortress—the place where she feels nothing. She stands there while her sister wipes the tears from her face and then while she fixes her makeup.

“There we go.” Josephine turns Clarke to face the mirror. “If anyone sees you, they’ll never know.”

Clarke looks in the mirror and she doesn’t like what she sees. Josephine is right—no one would ever know that the ice princess standing there had been upset just moments before. Right now she feels nothing and she has to keep it that way until they’re out of this place. She lifts her head high and grabs her bag.

Josephine links their arms together and leads her from the bathroom. They walk down the hallways, heads held high—like they owned the school. No one stops them. No one even looked twice. If they had they would’ve seen what they wanted to see.

The moment that the car door closes behind Clarke her facade crumbles as she folds in on herself. The sobs begin again as she wraps her arms around herself. She curls up into the seat and just lets go. She hears Josephine when she gets into the car and starts it. She feels when Josephine’s hand lands on her knee. But she doesn’t care. All that matters right now is the pain that she is allowing herself to drown in.

* * *

**April 17, 2021**

Miller plops down next to Bellamy. “Are you just going to stare at her all night?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bellamy replies without looking away from Clarke.

Miller snickers. “You’re not fooling me, Blake.” Miller slaps a hand on Bellamy’s back. He feels bad for his friend. Bellamy is heartbroken, that’s clear to anyone, but Miller is also friends with Clarke so he’s been trying to stay neutral in the whole breakup. “You know there are other girls, right?”

Bellamy finally turns to glare at him. “Thank you, Miller. I am well aware that there are other girls.” He turns his attention back to Clarke as she laughs at something that Finn is saying. “But why the hell is she going out with Finn? He’s such a douche.”

“I have no clue. I’ve asked myself and her the same question.” Miller holds up his hands in surrender before handing him a drink. “Here. I’m just trying to help.”

Bellamy takes the drink. “Fuck off, Miller.” Bellamy tosses back the drink before frowning and turning back to Miller. “That was unnecessary, I’m sorry.” He shakes his head. “I’m a disaster.” He slams the empty glass onto the table before wiping a hand over his face. “I just don’t understand and it’s driving me crazy.”

Miller sighs. He wishes he knew what to tell Bellamy—knew how to help him. It doesn’t make any sense to him and Clarke won’t talk about it. He wonders once again if he should’ve canceled the party. He and Roan had planned a party to mark the start of spring break weeks ago—before all of the drama with Clarke and Bellamy had happened. When he’d mentioned canceling it to Roan in front of Bellamy, Bellamy had said not to cancel it. But now, watching his friend, he realizes that might not have been the best call. 

“Well, if you need to talk, I’m here. If you just want to sit here and brood while staring at your ex I’ll try my best not to judge you.” Miller lays his hand on Bellamy’s shoulder and squeezes. “But if you need anything, please let me know.”

Bellamy reaches up and pats Miller’s hand. “Thanks, man. It means a lot to me. But please go enjoy your party and leave me to brood.”

Miller nods before glancing around the room, checking out to see what’s going on. He sees Murphy and Roan off in the corner playing some drinking game, acting like the idiots they are. Wells is sitting there shaking his head at whatever the hell it is they’re doing. That’s one thing that Miller is grateful for—that Wells and Roan seem to have worked out whatever issues they had going on. 

Roan got a lot of shit when his secret had been revealed—especially when people found out that he’d kept it from Wells. Their group had been a bit divided and then when Bellamy and Clarke broke up, Miller was worried that was it for their friends. But somehow the breakup of the other couple had brought Roan and Wells together and they were able to work their shit out—finally. Miller knows that Roan is facing some legal issues, but he doesn’t seem worried about it. His mom will probably take care of it. Which is bullshit, but Miller isn’t any better. He knows that his own dad would try to take care of any trouble he got into. 

His eyes flash to Clarke where she’s talking to Finn, Josephine, Echo, Emori, and Gaia. He really doesn’t understand why Clarke is suddenly going out with Finn—he knows for a fact that she’s never been interested in him. Maybe it’s a coping mechanism? But if that’s the case then why did she break up with Bellamy in the first place? He glances at Josephine and wonders, not for the first time, if she might have something to do with the breakup. From what Bellamy has told him, he’d worked out whatever issues Josephine had had with him. But he also knows Josephine and she’s not great at letting go of grudges so he wouldn’t put it past her to pressure her sister to end a relationship she doesn’t approve of. Whatever, not the time to worry about that.

Miller smiles as his eyes land on Eric who is speaking enthusiastically with Gabriel. He often forgets that the two of them know one another—they even take some classes together. He loves watching them geek out over science stuff that goes right over his head, but they sure do seem to love it. He’s making his way over to them when his phone goes off.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and clicks on the notification, eyes going wide as he reads.

  


Miller can’t breathe—he’s forgotten how to breathe. He drops his phone as his knees give out on him, hands going to his chest. His shirt is too tight. He claws at it as the panic surges through him.

He can’t go through this again—he can’t face this again. He’d thought that he was past it, but just reading those lines on his phone sent him back to that place. Back to the place where he was a freak who everyone laughed at as they walked by, talking about him behind his back. The dark place where his mind liked to go after being tormented.

A group of seniors had cornered him in the locker room and beat the crap out of him—called him names and left him bleeding on the floor.

_Fag._

_Homo._

_Fairy._

_Queer._

_Pillow-biter._

_Pervert._

_Worthless._

_Pansy._

_Kill yourself._

Miller doesn’t see anything or hear anything as he loses himself in that darkness—that place he never wanted to go back to. His jaw is locked and he’s shaking—he’s aware, but he can’t stop it. He’s losing himself to the darkness. 

“Nathan!” Someone shakes him. “Nathan?” They knock the phone from his hand.

Miller continues to stare at where his phone was, unable to move. He can’t. He can’t do this. He can’t go through this again. He can’t breathe.

“Nathan?” Miller recognizes the voice, but he can’t focus enough to place it as hands land on his shoulders, squeezing. “Focus on my voice. You have to breathe. I need you to breathe for me.” 

Miller squeezes his eyes shut as the memories assault him—he can’t breathe. He doesn’t know how. He’s forgotten how to breathe—how to move.

“Nathan listen to my voice. Breathe with me. In.” The person breathes in. “Out.” They breathe out.

Panic sets in suddenly as Miller realizes he’s going to pass out if he doesn’t breathe. He forces his mouth open and sucks in a breath and then another. He looks up to find Eric there, eyes filled with tears. Miller collapses into his arms, body shaking as he tries to convince himself to breathe.

“That’s it, Nathan. Just keep breathing with me. In and out.” Jackson continues to breathe with Miller as he runs his hands up and down his back.

Miller gasps breaths of air as he fights to calm down. He’s alive. He’s here now. That was then. He is loved and he is accepted. He isn’t worthless. He’s okay. He can do this. His eyes fall shut as the panic recedes. 

It’s been over a year since he’s had a panic attack and this one took him by complete surprise. He lets Eric lead him to his room and he hears his friends getting everyone to leave—he’s so glad to have them in his life. 

Why had this monster done this to him? Why had they brought this up? This wasn’t a moment to be laughed about or made fun of. He’d tried to kill himself because of some bigoted assholes. And that didn’t need to be spread over the internet for everyone to read. What had he ever done to this person? Why him? The anger builds in him. He doesn’t know who they are, but he hates them. Hates them for bringing this up and for making him feel that way again. 

What kind of sick monster does this to people? And when will they stop? How much more can they take before they all break?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May has arrived and prom is just around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weekly Wednesday WIP update is here! 
> 
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**May 28, 2021**

Sitting back in her chair, the girl laughs—laughs at the chaos, the confusion, the hate that she has orchestrated. Not that there is a chance it will fall back on her because she’s smart. Smarter than they’ve ever given her credit for, but that works in her favor. She worked through another girl who worked through a boy. This will never be traced back to her—none of it. Or at least not until she’s ready for them to all know the fear and pain that they’d caused her after they’ve felt it themselves.

The smile falls from her face as she remembers the pain of her physical wounds, not to mention the emotional ones. Emotional wounds that stemmed from years of bullying by the popular kids. God, they don’t even know. This stupid crowd and their ability to not see that the rest of the world is burning around them.

Well, now she’s making sure that their world is burning, so they have to take notice. She’s going to burn all of their lives to the ground and enjoy every single moment of it. And then she’s going to escape and they’ll never see her again, but they’ll always be looking over their shoulders wondering if she’ll return. And who knows? Maybe she will.

She grins at the idea of checking on them throughout their lives, each time that they think they’re safe. A new plan is forming inside of her head. Maybe this doesn’t have to be an act of one-time revenge—maybe it can be a lifetime of revenge.

* * *

**May 8, 2021**

Bellamy sits on his bed, staring at the board he has hung on his wall. Pinned to the board are copies of every tweet sent from the anonymous Twitter account and every letter that any of them have received from Clarke’s stalker. Pictures of every person who has been mentioned and even some who haven’t but run in the same circles. 

Clarke, whose picture he most definitely doesn’t stare at more than he should. He shakes his head. 

_ Don’t go there, Bellamy. Stay on task. _

Pinned beside her are Lexa and Josephine. Gabriel below them. Then there’s Roan and Wells. Murphy and Finn—Bellamy snarls a little when his gaze lands on Finn’s picture. Him and O. Echo. Lincoln and Miller.

That was the one that had set him off—it had been the final straw. Watching his friend fall apart and having to relive an experience that he didn’t even like to talk about? It had hurt him, but more than that it had pissed him off. He  _ will _ figure out who is behind these secret tweets.

On the other side of the board are Jackson, Emori, Raven, and Gaia—the only ones who haven’t yet fallen prey to the secrets. He doesn’t know if Jackson will be targeted since he no longer goes to school with them, but since Gabriel has been he has to assume Jackson will be as well. He’s been friends with Raven long enough to not want to believe that it’s her, but honestly? It could be any one of them—even Clarke, so he is trying his hardest to keep his personal bias from tainting his thoughts.

He has more questions than he has answers currently. How does this person (these people?) know these secrets? Why is this particular group being targeted? They’re not all in the same grade—yes, they go to the same school except Gabriel and Jackson, but up until this year they hadn’t. He, Octavia, and Raven had been at Mecha previously, so it doesn’t make sense that they’re being targeted unless it’s to target someone else by attacking them.

It could be because they’re rich, but again—that doesn’t apply to Raven nor him and Octavia prior to this year. And where does Clarke’s stalker fit into all of this? Are they the same person? Two different people? Is there a whole group of people set on terrorizing them? So many more questions than he can answer because all he can really answer at this moment is that he knows that their group is being targeted. 

Bellamy sighs when there’s a knock at his door. “Yeah?”

Octavia pushes open the door slowly, giving him a small smile though it falls as soon as she sees the board. She shakes her head. “I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

“Because someone needs to figure out who the hell is doing this to us, O.” Bellamy keeps his eyes locked on the board, hoping that something will come to him. He and Octavia have already fought over this, so he’s not really sure why she’s mentioning it now.

“Whatever, Bell. Your friends are here.”

Bellamy nods. “Okay, can you let them know that I’ll be there in just a second?”

“I’m not your damn servant, Bellamy.” She spins on her heel and slams the door shut behind her.

Bellamy winces. He’ll have to apologize to her. They’ve all been on edge lately, but he knows that she’s just as worried as he is. He stands up, walking over to the board. What is he missing? What is the missing connection that he isn’t seeing? It has to be there somewhere.

He pauses for a moment, considering. What if the entire point of revealing the secrets is to force them apart and to keep them at odds? It would make sense. Clarke’s stalker threatening him and Josephine. Revealing Roan’s accident had almost split up Roan and Wells. Revealing the information about his mom to get them to shun him—same with Echo. He might actually be onto something here. 

When his phone goes off he doesn’t even look to see what the alert is for, just opens it. He’s sure it’s one of the guys asking him where the hell he is. What he sees instead makes him see red.

  


What the hell is this? He storms across the room and throws the door open so fast that it bounces off the wall. He takes the stairs two at a time, veering off when he hears voices in the living room. His eyes narrow immediately on Lincoln who is standing there with his hands raised in surrender. 

“Come on, man. It’s not at all what it looks like.”

Bellamy doesn’t wait to hear what else he has to say as his arm flies at Lincoln’s face. He keeps punching as Lincoln falls backward onto the couch, not even trying to hit Bellamy. He’s only trying to block the punches, which Bellamy sees, but he can’t stop. How dare he break his trust and kiss his baby sister? 

He only stops swinging when someone grabs his arms, but he fights against their hold. He’s going to kill him—Lincoln is a dead man. 

“Bellamy!” Octavia is suddenly in his face. “You need to calm down.”

Bellamy shakes his head as he tries to calm down, but bucks against the arms holding him as Lincoln stands up from the couch. He’s going to have a black eye and his lip is busted open. Bellamy still wants to hurt him more.

“Damn it Bell! Stop it! Those pictures are completely out of context and if you’d stop being an asshole and calm down I can explain.” Octavia pushes up onto her toes so that she’s really in his face. “And you deserve to get punched in your face, so be lucky I’m only yelling and not punching.”

Bellamy deflates. Octavia is  _ pissed _ . His sister doesn’t get mad often, but when she does? Yeah...even he doesn’t want to deal with that. He stops struggling and the hold on him is slowly released. As he glances over his shoulders he realizes that it took both Wells and Miller to pull him off. Anger does some crazy stuff to you. 

“I’m fine.” He pulls his arms from their grasp fully before narrowing his eyes once more at Lincoln. “But you? I want you the hell out of my house. Now.”

Octavia grabs his arm, squeezing harder than he thought she could, her nails digging into his skin. She spins around to point at Lincoln. “Don’t you go anywhere.” She turns back to Bellamy. “You are not the only person that lives here, no matter how often you forget that. But for now? You and I are going to have a private conversation.” She drags him from the room—not that he puts up much of a fight—but stops in the doorway to turn back to his friends. “All of you better still be here when I get back.”

Bellamy would laugh if he weren’t so pissed off. Octavia is a firecracker at the best of times and when she’s mad, she’s nuclear. And all of that anger is currently directly solely on him. He’ll listen to what she has to say, but it’s not going to change anything. Lincoln betrayed his trust with the thing most precious to him and he’s not going to get a second chance.

Once they’re in the kitchen Octavia drops her hold on his arm and he lifts it to see that she’s drawn blood. He sits on one of the stools watching as Octavia paces back and forth, the anger and betrayal heavy in his chest. 

Finally, Octavia turns to face him, hands on her hips. “You’re an asshole.”

Bellamy is so surprised that he laughs. “Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”

“No, that’s just the first thing I need to say.” Octavia shakes her head. “Obviously that is a picture of Lincoln and I kissing, but-” She holds up a hand when he opens his mouth to interrupt her, “I was the one kissing him—not the other way around. Whoever took that picture took it at the exact moment that I kissed him because he didn’t kiss me.”

Octavia takes a deep breath before continuing, “Look, I like Lincoln and he likes me. I told him that I liked him and he said that he could never date me because you wouldn’t allow it. Which first of all, is misogynistic on both of your parts, but I understood it. You guys are friends and you have some stupid code. So whatever. I told him that I would talk to you about it, but you’ve been in such a bad mood since the breakup with Clarke that I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

“But here’s the thing big brother, I’m not some little girl anymore. I am more than old enough to date. I’m 15 now! Lincoln is a year and a half older than me-”

“Two. He is two years older than you.” Bellamy shakes his head.

“Not quite two years older than me. He’s a good guy—you know that. Otherwise, why would you be friends with him? Why  _ wouldn’t _ you want me to date one of your friends? I mean, I’d get it with Murphy, but Lincoln? He’s amazing, Bell.” She smiles and Bellamy’s heart hurts—the look on her face is the same look he had when he talked about Clarke. 

And the worst part is that she’s right. Lincoln is a good guy and he would treat her right, but he’s not ready for his little sister to be dating—especially not someone who is his age. He bites the inside of his cheek as she stares at him hopefully. Lincoln is obviously a better choice than some handsy freshman that won’t respect her, but damn it if he doesn’t want to refuse her. 

“Bell,” Octavia speaks softer as she moves closer, “you need to let me grow up.”

“Damn it, O.” Bellamy’s head drops. “Mom was barely older than me when she got pregnant with me. You know that, right? I don’t want that to happen to you.”

Tears fill Octavia’s eyes. “Don’t you think I’m smart enough to learn from her mistakes? Don’t you think that I want to have a better life than how we grew up? You tried to hide a lot of it from me, but I knew. I don’t want that to be my future.” The tears begin to slip down her cheeks as she shakes her head. “I don’t want to disappoint you, but this is my life to live and you need to let me live it. I will make mistakes and I will learn from them, but they won’t be Mom’s mistakes.”

“He’s too old.” Bellamy knows it’s a weak argument at this point, but won’t he be a bad brother if he doesn’t put up a better fight? 

“No, he’s not.” Octavia laughs as she swipes at the tears on her face. “I had to grow up faster just like you did. We both know that I’m more mature than most kids my age.”

“That’s not saying much,” Bellamy scoffs.

Octavia grabs his hand and squeezes until he looks back up at her. “I know what I’m doing and you need to trust me. And trust your friend that you just punched numerous times in the face like an asshole.”

Bellamy can’t help but laugh because she’s right. “You’re my baby sister, O. I’m always going to be looking out for you and it’s hard for me to admit that you’re growing up, but you are. And you’re right, I should trust you—I do trust you and I trust Lincoln.”

“Does that mean...?” Octavia squeals.

Bellamy holds up his hand. “There will be conditions, but yes. You can date Lincoln.” He pauses. “Which I will tell him after I apologize for punching him.”

“Probably a good call.”

Bellamy lifts a brow at her sass and she just shrugs, gesturing for him to go first before wiping at her tear-stained face. He takes a deep breath and makes his way back to the living room where his three friends wait. Lincoln jumps to his feet as soon as Bellamy walks in.

“I’m sorry for punching you,” Bellamy says as he walks over, stopping just in front of the other boy.

Lincoln shakes his head. “You don’t need to apologize. I get it. If I had a little sister I’m sure that I’d have reacted the same way.”

“That doesn’t actually make it okay,” Bellamy says with a shake of his head. “But O and I have talked. She’s old enough to decide who she wants to date. At least dating you, I know that you’ll treat her right. And if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.”

Lincoln’s eyes shift to Octavia who is standing just behind him, a smile slowly making its way onto his face. Bellamy closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of disgust. “Don’t start making eyes at each other while I’m in the room. I can’t deal with that yet.”

Bellamy knows that he did the right thing. Octavia is growing up and he needs to let her make decisions for herself, but he knows that it is going to annoy the crap out of him that she’s dating Lincoln. It means that she’s always going to be around and they’ll be making eyes at each other and kissing. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here before I change my mind.” Bellamy turns to smile at Octavia. “Love you.”

“Love you too, big brother.”

Bellamy heads toward the door, Wells and Miller following close behind. 

“I’ll be just one minute,” Lincoln calls and Bellamy sighs. And so it begins.

* * *

**May 14, 2021**

Josephine is worried about Clarke, although it’s not exactly a new thing. She feels like she’s always worried about her sister now. She understands why Clarke broke up with Bellamy—though if she’s honest with herself, it’s not a decision she would’ve made—what she doesn’t understand is Clarke agreeing to go to the prom with Finn.

She knows for a fact that Clarke is not into Finn in the least. She’s still completely and totally in love with Bellamy—no matter how much she denies it. But why agree to go to prom with a guy who has had a crush on her for at least four years, if not more? Someone who has regularly asked her out and she’s turned down. It doesn’t make sense. It probably doesn’t help that Josephine can’t stand Finn.

“You okay, Josie?”

She turns her head to blink at Gabriel. “Huh?”

Gabriel laughs. “I asked if you were okay. You’re a million miles away today.”

She sighs and gives him a small smile before snuggling into his side. “I’m just worried about Clarke.”

“You know if you want we can go to your house and hang out instead of my dorm.” Gabriel slowly runs a hand over her hair. 

“That’s sweet of you.” Josephine shakes her head. “But we also need time alone, just us, and Clarke knows that.” She pauses. “How are you doing?”

Gabriel presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m fine, Josie. I promise. I’m not going to fall off the wagon just because some asshole decided to tell the whole world that I’m an alcoholic. Would I have preferred to keep that to myself? Sure, but it’s too late now. My sobriety means too much to me. I’ve seen what addiction can do if it goes unchecked.”

Josephine nods. She knows that he’s referring to his workaholic dad who is always drunk when he’s not at work and his mom who spends all of her time high on some cocktail of drugs or another. Dependency on mind-altering substances is all that he’s ever known.

“But I’m more worried about you,” he says as he looks down at her.

Josephine frowns. “Why on Earth are you worried about me?”

Gabriel scoffs as he shakes his head. “I know that you like to pretend that you don’t care about anyone other than yourself, but I know you better than that. I know that you’re saying that you’re a little worried about Clarke, but that you’re spending most of your free time worrying about her. I know you’ve been hiding stuff from her—don’t think that I haven’t noticed that you try to rush home before Clarke to see if her stalker has left her anything.”

Josephine shrugs because he’s not wrong. Although her stalker has been surprisingly quiet as of late. She’s not even sure that they’ve left her anything since she broke up with Bellamy. “Huh,” she mutters.

“What?”

“I just realized that Clarke’s stalker hasn’t sent anything since her breakup with Bellamy.” She shakes her head.

“Well yeah.” Gabriel shrugs. “They wanted her to break up with Bellamy and she did? So that tracks.”

Josephine chews on her lip for a moment. “It’s all over social media that Clarke and Finn are going to prom together. The whole school has been talking about it for weeks. Shouldn’t her stalker have something to say about that?”

“So what? You think her stalker is Finn?”

Josephine makes a face as she thinks. It would make sense if it were Finn, right? But then she shakes her head. “No, there’s no way. He’s not smart enough to have pulled off half the stuff.”

“You do have a point there.” Gabriel is quiet for a moment. “Maybe it’s because they don’t think Finn is a threat? You said she’s been rebuking his advances for years, so maybe they just think it’s a pity date?”

“Maybe.” Josephine shrugs. “I just wish the damn cops would figure out who it is so Clarke doesn’t have to keep looking over her shoulder. And if they could figure out the asshole who keeps posting secrets about us? That would be amazing too.”

Gabriel shakes his head. “Yeah, I don’t think that they’re looking into that too hard.”

“Well fuck them.” Josephine rolls her eyes. “Whatever, that’s enough talk about other people for tonight. There are definitely better things we could be doing with our time.” She turns and moves to straddle him as her arms wrap around his neck.

“Oh? Did you have something in mind?” Gabriel raises his brows.

Josephine laughs. “Shut up and kiss me.”

* * *

**May 19, 2021**

Wells is laying on Clarke’s bed, staring up at the ceiling while she’s ducked behind the screen to put on her prom dress. He has zero doubts that she’ll look amazing. Clarke has great taste, but Josephine’s is impeccable, so he’s sure that she helped her sister pick out the best dress possible. What he is still wondering about is Clarke’s choice of date. 

“Are you sure you want to go to prom with Finn?” he asks, turning his head toward the screen. 

Clarke’s head pops out from behind the screen as she grimaces. “Not even remotely, but it’s gotten Bellamy to think that I’m actually over him and back off, so here we are.” 

“I  _ still _ don’t understand why you broke up with that boy.” Wells shakes his head even though she can’t see him. “I’ve known you for your entire life, Clarke Griffin. You are one hundred percent still in love with him.”

Wells can hear Clarke’s sigh from all the way across the room before she walks out from behind the screen. And he was right, she looks gorgeous—except for the look on her face as she makes her way over to the bed. Wells sits up, a little concerned at this point.

“If I tell you, you have to swear to keep it to yourself. Only Josie knows and she’s not telling anyone, so if it gets out I’ll know it was you.”

Wells makes a face before he rolls his eyes. “Like I’d spill your secrets.”

“I know, but this is serious.” Clarke takes a deep breath. “I came home to a message from my stalker—a knife in my dresser and writing on my mirror in blood. Real blood Wells. Whose or what’s blood, I have no idea and I don’t want to think about it. But it said to break up with him or Bellamy’s blood would be spilled.”

“Seriously?” Wells shakes his head, trying to wrap his head around it all. It was probably just a threat that the stalker wouldn’t carry through on, but he can see what she was thinking. He’d have done the same if someone threatened Roan. “Oh, Clarke.” He opens his arms and Clarke collapses into them as the tears start to fall. 

“Only you,” he says as he hugs her close. “Only you would break your own heart to save him.” He holds her as she cries and he hates it—hates that she has a stalker and that she’s hurting herself to keep Bellamy safe. It’s not fair and it eats at him that there’s not a damn thing he can do about it. All he can do is let her cry on his shoulder.

After a while Clarke sits up, wiping at her face before making her way back behind the screen. “Okay, enough about me and my sadness. Let’s talk about you and Roan. Do you guys have big plans for prom?”

He doesn’t want to drop it, but if Clarke wants to pretend that everything is alright, who is he to tell her no? He shakes his head. “I have no idea. He won’t tell me anything. He just told me to not expect to be home until Sunday.”

“He has plans for the  _ whole _ weekend?” Clarke asks as she sticks her head around the screen, eyes wide. 

“Apparently.” Wells rolls his eyes even though Clarke can’t see him since she’s ducked back behind the screen. “I’m sure that he’s going way overboard as usual.”

“Oh don’t try and act like you don’t love it. You love that he goes over the top for anything.” Clarke steps back out dressed in her regular clothes once more, a smile on her face. 

Wells shrugs. “Okay, so maybe I like it a little bit.” He grins because she’s right—he loves it and he loves Roan. 

She just laughs at him. “Guess we just can’t fool one another, can we?”

“Downfall to knowing each other our whole lives.”

Clarke rolls her eyes. “Whatever, Jaha. C’mon, I’ll go make us some popcorn and we’ll watch a scary movie.”

Wells gasps and holds his hand to his chest in mock surprise. “What? You’re willing to watch a horror movie for little old me? What did I ever do to deserve such an honor.” 

“I hate you.” She flips him off before walking out of the room, but not before he sees the smile on her face.

It’s nice to see her smile. He wishes she did it more often, but at least he knows why she doesn’t. Now, if he could just figure out how to fix it for her. He sighs as he jumps up from the bed and follows her. It’s not something he’s going to be able to solve tonight. Might as well go enjoy a scary movie with his best friend.

* * *

**May 21, 2021**

Clarke sighs as Josephine finishes up her hair. She is so not looking forward to tonight, which stinks. It’s her prom and she doesn’t want to go. Well, that’s not true. She just doesn’t want to go to the prom with Finn. So really this is her own fault. She doesn’t know what she was thinking when she accepted his invitation to prom. It was under duress as she’d tried desperately to figure out how to get Bellamy to realize that their breakup was real. She just wishes that she could have thought of a better way to make that happen besides going to prom with Finn.

Yes, she’s excited to see all of her friends dressed up and looking amazing, but the thought of having to spend the entire night with Finn annoys the hell out of her. She’s never felt overly comfortable with him—the way that he looks at her has always put her on edge. And even though they’d talked about the fact that he is only taking her as a friend, she’s still afraid that she’s leading him on. It’s a little late to worry about that now, since he and Gabriel are downstairs waiting to take them to prom.

Josephine frowns at her in the mirror. “Clarkey, you’ve made your bed and now you’re going to have to sleep in it. Suck it up, buttercup. It’s our prom and we are going to have a blast.”

Clarke forces a smile. “Yes, we will.”

“Good.” Josephine leans down to kiss her cheek and turns her head to look at the mirror so that they can both look. “All done and you look beautiful.”

Clarke’s smile spreads into a genuine one as she looks at the two of them. They both look amazing. She might not be looking forward to her date, but she can still look forward to the prom and the time she will get to spend with her friends. 

“We should probably head downstairs.” Clarke reaches over and grabs both of their purses, handing Josephine’s to hers. They make their way downstairs and Clarke smiles at the look on Gabriel’s face. He really does love her sister—flaws and all. 

When her eyes land on Finn she fights to keep her smile in place. Objectively, he’s a good-looking guy but he’s not Bellamy. It doesn’t really matter how good he looks in a tux because she’s in love with another guy and he’s all she can think about.

“You look beautiful,” Finn offers as he takes her hand to help her off the last stair.

“Thank you.” Clarke manages to not rip her hand from his grip and somehow she’s still smiling. 

She manages to make it through all of the pictures that Abby forces them to endure and then they’re off to the limo. Her mind is a million miles away as she stares out the window. At dinner she barely talks to anyone. She knows she’s being a terrible date, but she just can’t keep her mind focused on Finn when she’s too busy wondering if she’ll see Bellamy tonight. He knows that she’s going with Finn, so will that keep him away? Will he talk to her or stare at her in disgust? She just can’t quiet the questions. She has never been more grateful to her sister for her ability to keep a conversation going. 

Finally, they pull up at The Empire and Clarke finds her thoughts on Bellamy once again—as much as she wishes that she didn’t think about him, he seems to be the subject most often on her mind. Will he be at the prom? He has to be, right? His friends are going. Octavia is going with Lincoln—there’s no way he wouldn’t go just to keep his eye on them. Will he think that she looks beautiful? 

But thoughts of Bellamy bring her mind to her stalker—the reason she’s not here with the boy she loves. Will they be there tonight? She still doesn’t fully understand why there haven’t been any further threats since she’d broken up with Bellamy. Shouldn’t they object to Finn taking her to prom? It doesn’t make sense.

“C’mon, Clarkey.” Josephine grabs her arm and begins leading her up the steps, leaving the boys to trail behind them. She leads them into the hotel and toward the ballroom. 

Clarke gasps when she steps inside—it’s more beautiful than she could have imagined. Fairy lights are everywhere and the lighting is low. She sees a bridge with a gondola set beneath it for pictures off to one side. One of the walls has been completely covered in Venetian masks in jewel tones: emerald green, ruby red, sapphire blue, amethyst purple. 

Like Josephine and herself, most of the girls wear jewel-toned dresses, and some of them even wear masks. Clarke brushes her hands against her sapphire blue dress—strapless, gathered at the waist where a sapphire is pinned before tapering out. Josephine beside her is the persona of mysterious and sexy—a sequined dress in a purple so dark it looks black until the light hits it, long-sleeved but draped so that her shoulders are bare, hugging all of her curves, and the slit up the center that is revealed when she walks. 

She feels Finn step up beside her as her eyes scan the room. Finn’s hand lands on her lower back as her eyes land on Bellamy. As if knowing that she’s there his eyes lift, locking with hers. He looks amazing in the tux and his curls just as askew as always. She’s sure that she saw some of her friends near him, but as soon as her eyes landed on him he was the only thing that she could see. 

Bellamy’s eyes move up and down her body—the appreciation apparent in both his eyes and the small smile on his lips. She flushes from head to toe. His opinion is the only one that matters. If only he knew that she’d picked this dress out with him in mind—she knows how much he likes her in blue—in the hopes that he would look at her just like he is. Even as Finn leads her down the stairs her eyes stay locked with Bellamy’s and she’s never felt more beautiful in her life. 

As they reach the bottom of the stairs, Echo and Emori step in front of them, blocking Bellamy from her view. The four girls gush over one another’s dresses, though Clarke’s eyes are back to scanning the room for another glimpse of Bellamy. 

“I want to dance now,” Josephine announces. Gabriel laughs quietly but takes her by the hand and leads her toward the dance floor.

Finn clears his throat. “Would you like to dance, Clarke?”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not in the mood just yet.”

“Plus she has to go say hello to everyone else,” Emori says as she slips her arm through Clarke’s and starts dragging her toward their friends.

Clarke is both excited and dreading this encounter. How will Bellamy react to her being there? Will he talk to her? Will he tell her how beautiful she looks? Or will he ignore her? She doesn’t even know which one is the best option. She just knows that she wants to see him. 

Her eyes land on Bellamy once more, locking eyes with him again. She swallows before smiling at him. Maybe this is a good sign?

Bellamy makes a face as he shakes his head before turning to talk to Miller once more. Her heart drops into her stomach although she tries to force herself to keep smiling. What was she expecting? She’d broken up with him and told him that she’d never loved him. Then she’d ignored him and agreed to go with another guy to prom. He has every right to act this way because he has no idea that she did it to save him. 

Finn hurries ahead to the table, pulling out a chair for Clarke. Emori drops her arm and sits in the chair next to hers. “Can I get you something to drink?” Finn sounds overeager and he’s already driving Clarke crazy.

“Sure, can you just get me a water?” she asks. She sighs as he runs off, her mind running a million miles a minute. She hears the conversation going on around her, but her eyes are locked on Bellamy who seems to be doing everything he can to avoid looking at her. 

Clarke jumps when someone takes her hand and she looks over to see Emori looking at her, concern written all over her face. “Are you okay, Clarke?”

Clarke shrugs. What is she supposed to say? That she’s a disaster because she can’t be with the boy she loves? “This just wasn’t the night that I had planned, ya know?”

“Yeah.” Emori squeezes her hand. “But maybe the night can still be what you wanted?”

Clarke wishes that were true, but she knows that Emori is just trying to make her feel better so she shoots the other girl a smile as she nods. “While I appreciate the sentiment, I’m pretty sure what I want isn’t an option.” 

Emori looks like she wants to say something else but her phone goes off. She makes a face before reaching down to grab it. Her face pales, eyes going wide.

“Mori, are you okay?” Clarke frowns at her friend.

Emori doesn’t answer her as she stands quickly, dropping her phone to the floor in her hurry. She rushes away from the table leaving Clarke to wonder what the hell is going on. She grabs the phone and quickly reads it.

  


She hates this person so much. Clarke’s anger is boiling in her stomach as she stands up to hurry after Emori. “Mori! Wait!” Emori probably can’t hear her over the music, but Clarke continues to call out to her as she rushes through the crowd. 

Clarke sighs as she loses sight of her, but from the corner of her eye, she sees a door slowly closing. She turns towards it, realizing that it’s the ladies’ room. Maybe she went in there? It’s worth a shot at least. She rushes over and pushes the door open.

“Mori? Are you in here?” Clarke pauses, waiting for an answer. When she doesn’t get one she starts to duck down to check under the stalls, but someone wraps an arm around her. She opens her mouth to scream, but it’s quickly muffled by a cloth covering her nose and mouth.

She fights not to breathe in, but the person holding her isn’t letting up. She can’t hold her breath long enough. Her sight is greying at the edges as she finally breathes in. The world starts to blacken and she only has time for one more thought before she falls into oblivion.

_ Not again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note on this chapter: The 2nd secret social media posted has spoilers for pictures because I was unable to find pictures that weren't of people of other races. So they were removed and you get spoiler pics instead!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Past and present meet—the aftermath of the prom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! Sorry that this is one week later than anticipated, I had some writing issues and had to push things back a bit. But here we are with our Wednesday update and there are only 2 chapters after this! We're almost there!
> 
> As a reminder I, along with many other talented and creators are currently taking prompts via t100fic4blm. Please check out [our carrd here](t100fic-for-blm.carrd.co) to see what we're all about. Is there a story idea that you want to read? A song you KNOW needs to be made into a video? Or want a fic trailer done for your fic (because I'm getting quite good at those lol). If you want to donate, but don't know what to prompt we've got you covered there too with [our new prompt board.](https://www.notion.so/t100-Fic-for-BLM-Prompt-Ideas-b71c84406c884099a9682133636abc09)
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**May 28, 2021**

Clarke sits on her bed, wrapped up in her comforter in her dark room as her mind runs in a million different directions. Why can’t she remember what happened? It’s only a matter of time until the cops put together that she was in the room with Finn—possibly even at the time of his murder. 

Somehow their mom has been able to keep both Clarke and Josephine out of the police station thus far. It probably helps that Clarke is playing ill, having not left the house since that dreaded day. Unfortunately, both girls have to go down to the police station first thing tomorrow morning to give their statements and Clarke doesn’t think that she can handle it. 

She knows what her sister wants her to tell them, considering that she’d make repeat it over and over until it sounded natural. She’s supposed to say that she came home in the early hours of Saturday morning. She and Josephine were exhausted, so they’d decided to stay in for a girl’s weekend. No, they hadn’t left the house—they’d had food delivered in. 

Josephine has even spun another story to cover the time that she was missing from the time prom ended. She wants Clarke to say that she went back to the room with Finn before prom ended, which will explain any of her DNA they find in the room. She’s supposed to tell the police that she slept with Finn, fell asleep, and then as soon as she woke up she headed home. 

Clarke knows the story by heart—Josephine made sure of it. But she doesn’t know if she can tell it to the cops or if she can even make it believable. It’s possible that she did go to the room with Finn and sleep with him—she has no way of knowing. The last thing Clarke remembers before waking up next to Finn’s dead body was following after Emori. Going into the ladies’ room, thinking she might be in there, and then someone sneaking up behind her and pressing a cloth to her face. Then nothing. 

Murphy texted her earlier and told her that there had been some kind of issue with the video cameras at The Empire the day of the prom all the way through the following Monday. She doesn’t know if that means he deleted them, if something actually went wrong with the video system, or if the person who killed Finn had done something to them.

She likes to think of the person who killed Finn as a separate person from herself because she still hopes that she didn’t kill him. She just can’t be sure of it and it’s driving her insane. She just needs to remember what the hell happened after prom—it shouldn’t be this hard, should it?

Clarke squeezes her eyes shut, going back through her memories of that night. She remembers arriving with Finn, Josephine, and Gabriel. She remembers making her way into the ballroom and her eyes landing on Bellamy.

_ Bellamy. _

She misses him so much. She’s tried her best not to think of him through this whole ordeal because there is no way that she’s going to drag him into her mess—it’s bad enough that she’d dragged Josephine and Murphy into it. Well, technically she’d dragged Josephine into it, and then Josephine had dragged Murphy into it, but that is just semantics. 

But she would give anything for Bellamy to hold her right now, to tell her that everything will be fine. He’d always made her feel safe—she’d always known that he would never let anything happen to her. Which is why she’d ended things with him. She was putting his well-being above her own and above her own happiness because she’s been nothing but miserable since she broke up with him.

She shakes her head. She needs to focus on the night of prom, not on Bellamy.

She remembers going to the table, Finn going off to get her a drink. Talking to Emori and the secret that had been revealed. Emori ran from the ballroom and Clarke followed. Then the ladies room, a cloth to her face, and nothing. She hits her hand against her head in frustration—or maybe to knock loose a memory—but either way, she doesn’t remember anything else. 

Clarke hasn’t wanted to face anyone or deal with anyone really since she’d woken up next to a dead body, so she’s stayed at home all week. Their concierge doctor told Abby that it was exhaustion and an overwhelming amount of stress. He wrote a note and she hasn’t left the house since. She doesn’t want to leave the house. She doesn’t want to deal with this at all. She just wants it to disappear.

Why is this happening to her? What did she ever do to deserve this? She’s been kidnapped twice. She’s woken up next to a dead body. She’s had secrets revealed for everyone on the internet to see. She even had a stalker—who turned out to be Finn. She never would’ve guessed that one. She didn’t think he was smart enough for the things that he’d done, but she knows that he was cruel enough. She just doesn’t know how he managed to get secrets on everyone. Either he’d been playing dumb or someone was helping him.

She shakes her head. Thinking about that won’t help either. Nothing will help. She’s so angry and frustrated and she just wants this to all be over. Why can’t it be over? Why can’t she remember? Why can’t she be done with this? 

Her eyes land on her bedside lamp and she’s reaching for it before she even realizes it. Her fingers wrap around the base, pulling the cord from the wall as she moves to kneel on her bed. She takes a deep breath and launches it across the room. Both the mirror and the lamp breaking with a resounding crash. She grins.

Yes, this is what she needs. She needs destruction—to destroy. After all, it’s what she does, right? Destroy everything good in her life? 

She pulls herself from the bed and grabs the hairbrush from her bedside table, launching it against the wall and grinning again as it thuds. 

She screams. 

And that feels right, so she keeps screaming as she throws anything that she can get her hands on—it doesn’t matter what it is, what matters is the destruction. 

She doesn’t know how long she goes on like this, but eventually, her throat is raw, her voice completely gone. All of the energy has left her body and she drops to the floor in a pile of limbs. 

What is she going to do?

Did she kill him? Did she kill Finn? Could she have killed Finn?

Is she a murderer?

And why the hell can’t she remember an entire weekend? How is it possible to have no memory for two days?

What the hell is she going to do?

* * *

Josephine pushes open the door to the house, pausing for a moment to listen. 

Silence—just as it has been every day after she’s returned from school this week. Their mom has been at work more than she’s been home. She’s only been home long enough to change clothes and to tell Josephine and Clarke to “not talk to anyone about anything.”

Clarke hasn’t left her bed except to go to the bathroom the entire week and Josephine doesn’t know what to do for her sister. She doesn’t know if there is anything she can do for her. Josephine would give anything to have woken up in Clarke’s place versus Clarke having to go through this. 

Clarke is shaken to her core—not that Josephine isn’t, but she’s better at dealing with the unexpected than Clarke. And waking up to a dead body? Even worse, the dead body of Finn Collins.

Josephine had been so wrapped in her own prom experience that she hadn’t noticed that her sister was missing from the prom—yet another thing to feel guilty about because Clarke was being stalked and Josephine had forgotten to keep an eye on her. By the time prom was over and Josephine realized that Clarke wasn’t there around the same time she noticed that Finn was also gone. She assumed that Finn had taken Clarke home and didn’t about it again as she went back to Gabriel’s dorm with him.

When she woke up Saturday morning she sent Clarke a text but wasn’t overly disturbed that her sister didn’t answer. She headed home and it was only when she realized that Clarke wasn’t home that she started to worry. She called Clarke’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail. 

She called Murphy and they spent the day trying to find her—Josephine’s worry growing more and more as the day went on. She didn’t want to call the police because there was always a chance that she was just partying—no matter how unlike Clarke it sounds, it seemed plausible at the time. They were also unable to reach Finn, so there was the chance that Clarke and he might be together doing things that Josephine didn’t want to think about.

She’d barely slept a wink Saturday night and when Murphy had texted her to tell her that Finn had a room at The Empire they figured that they’d check it out. Then Clarke had called and everything had gone to hell.    
  
Finn Collins’s dead body. Clarke with no memory of what she’d been doing all weekend. They did what they could to try and cover up the fact that Clarke had been there, but it’s possible they missed something. Hence the story she’s drilled into Clarke’s head for when they talk to the police tomorrow.

Josephine doesn’t like to think that her sister could’ve killed Finn—she doesn’t like to think that her sister could kill anyone—but what if she did? What if Clarke is a murderer? Josephine shakes her head. It doesn’t matter if her sister is a murderer. But she really hopes that she isn’t. And these worries she keeps to herself because she doesn’t want Clarke to know that she’s doubted her for even a moment. 

Josephine shuts the door, heading upstairs to check on Clarke as she has every other day this week. She takes a deep breath before opening Clarke’s door, reminding herself to be patient with her sister. She shoves open the door, and her jaw drops. The room is a wreck and Clarke is laying on the floor in the fetal position.

“Clarkey,” Josephine says quietly as she rushes over to find that Clarke’s hands are covered in blood. “What happened?”

Clarke blinks up at her, face blank. “I happened.” She lays her head back down on the ground, staring off once more. “I destroy everything that I touch.”

Josephine takes a shaky breath. She doesn’t know how to fix her sister and it breaks her heart. The one thing she does know is that she needs to get Clarke cleaned up. She helps her to her feet and out of the room. Josephine will get Clarke into the shower, get her washed up, and then put her to bed in Josephine’s bed before dealing with Clarke’s room. 

It takes longer than it should to get Clarke showered because she doesn’t respond to Josephine’s requests to do things, so she’s having to do everything for her sister. She feels tears forming, but she refuses to let them fall. She can’t fall apart with Clarke right here; she has to be strong for her sister. 

Josephine lays Clarke down in her bed, not wanting Clarke in her own room while she’s cleaning it up. She grabs a sleeping pill from her drawer and hands it to Clarke. “Take this.”

“Hmmm?” Clarke blinks up at her.

“Take this, it’ll help you sleep, and you need to sleep.” Josephine sighs as she slips the pill into Clarke’s hand. “Just sleep, Clarke.”

Clarke looks at the pill for a moment before tossing it into her mouth and swallowing. She settles under the covers, eyes falling shut as Josephine pulls the comforter past Clarke’s shoulders, tucking her in as tight as she can. Josephine can’t be sure that Clarke will go straight to sleep, but she has work to do, so she can’t stay in here to make sure she does.

Josephine shuts her door tightly behind her before walking over to Clarke’s room. She pauses for a moment with her hand on the doorknob to take a deep breath. She pushes open the door and it’s worse than she had originally thought. There’s nothing in the room that Clarke didn’t destroy.

She shakes her head as the tears threaten to fall again. She doesn’t think that Clarke is up for the police interview tomorrow—she doesn’t know if she’s strong enough or if she can stick to the story that they’d concocted. She doesn’t want her sister to go to jail but she doesn’t know what else she can do. 

If Clarke can’t sell the lie there’s a good chance that she’s going to be arrested for murder, and that’s not something that Josephine can save her from. A sense of hopelessness rushes through Josephine. She swallows, closing the door as quietly as possible. As soon as it’s shut she finally lets herself cry as she slides to the floor. 

She pulls her knees to her chest, rocking lightly as silent sobs overtake her. She can only be so strong for so long. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if Clarke can’t hold it together tomorrow. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if her sister is arrested for murder. She’s a mess and she’s had to hide it from everyone. But she’ll allow herself this time to fall apart before she goes back to being strong Josephine.

* * *

Bellamy sits outside of the Griffin house, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. He shouldn’t be here—he knows that—but he couldn’t bring himself to go home. He can’t seem to get himself to go home now. He shakes his head. Why is he here? Clarke made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him.

  
  


He sighs because that doesn’t matter to him. She hasn’t been in school all week, Josephine says that she’s sick but hasn’t elaborated. And then the news about Finn came out and Josephine had explained that it was all too much for Clarke following her illness and that she wouldn’t be back for a while.

It’s none of Bellamy’s business and it’s not his problem, but he can’t stop thinking about her and if she’s okay. Because she probably isn’t okay and he knows she has her sister, but maybe she needs friends. And they can be friends, right? He shakes his head, laughing at himself. He knows that what he feels for her goes way beyond friendship—he’s in love with her—but maybe friendship would be better than nothing.

Yes, she’d been a bitch to him and had hurt him, but he thinks that he can forgive her for these things. Maybe. Probably. He won’t know until he tries. He shakes his head again. No, he needs to go home. He shouldn’t be there.

He glances at the house once more, eyes zeroing in on Clarke’s bedroom window. The light has been on since he pulled up, but now he sees movement. So she’s up and he’s already here. He should definitely check on her. 

Bellamy jumps out of the car and heads toward the front door before he can change his mind again. He rings the doorbell, taking a deep steadying breath. It takes a minute before he hears footsteps on the stairs and the door opens enough to reveal Josephine. 

“She’s sleeping,” Josephine says before he can even open his mouth, already shutting the door.

“Wait,” Bellamy pleads. “How is she?” 

Josephine doesn’t speak but she also doesn’t slam the door in his face as she considers him. He can’t tell what she’s thinking—he’s never been able to tell with Josephine—but she obviously decides something as she steps back and gestures for him to step inside.

Bellamy hesitates for only a moment before stepping inside. He doesn’t want Josephine to wake Clarke, but also he wants to know how she’s doing. Josephine doesn’t speak as he leads her up the stairs and to Clarke’s room. He opens his mouth to ask why the light is on in Clarke’s room if she’s sleeping, but stops when Josephine swings the door open.

The room is a disaster. It’s evident that someone has been working on setting it right, but everything is destroyed—broken glass littering the floor, shredded pieces of clothing strewn everywhere, books ripped and in pieces. Anything that can be broken is and he’s pretty sure that he sees blood on the ground. What the hell had happened here?

“What happened?” he asks as he turns to look at Josephine. “It can’t be her stalker because that was Finn, right?”

Josephine shakes her head before stepping into the room and sitting heavily on the bed. Her eyes are on her hands where she’s picking at her nails, but Bellamy follows her into the room. He hesitates for a moment before shutting the door and then sits down quietly beside Josephine. It’s obvious that she has something to say, but doesn’t know how to say it.

Finally, Josephine looks up at him with tears shining in her eyes. “She’s a mess, Bellamy. I came home to this and her on the floor, staring off into space. I don’t know what to do for her—I don’t know how to fix her. How to fix this.”

“Fix what?” Bellamy frowns, not following everything that Josephine is saying.

Josephine’s eyes lock with his and he sees the plea in them. “Can I trust you? I know that Clarke does—or at least did—but can we really trust you? With possibly the worst thing that you’ve ever heard?”

“If it involves Clarke, then yes,” Bellamy says without hesitation. He knows that there should at least be a pause before he answers but it’s a truthful answer. Whether or not Josephine believes him isn’t his problem, but the question does make him wonder what has been being kept from him. Maybe if he hadn’t been kept in the dark they wouldn’t be here right now. He knows he certainly wouldn’t be sporting a broken heart. He shakes his head to rid himself of the bitter thought—that doesn’t matter now. What matters now is finding out what the hell is going on with Clarke—he’ll have to deal with his own baggage later.

Josephine considers him for another moment before nodding to herself. “You should know that the only reason that Clarke broke up with you was to keep you safe. Her stalker—Finn, I guess—left a message written in blood and a knife embedded in her dresser telling her to end things with you, or he’d kill you.”

Bellamy shakes his head. “She shouldn’t have done that. I can take care of myself.”

Josephine shrugs. “It doesn’t matter now, trust me on that.” She takes a deep breath. “Sunday I got a phone call from Clarke, freaking out. She told me she was at the Empire but didn’t know what room. She was in a panic. I called Murphy and met him at the hotel. He told me that Finn had a room for the weekend—maybe that’s where Clarke would be.” She stands suddenly and begins to pace the room.

Bellamy doesn’t say anything because what can he say? He doesn’t know what’s about to come out of Josephine’s mouth but there is a deep dread building within him.

“She was in Finn’s room and she’d woken up staring at his dead body with no memory of how she’d gotten there. We have no idea what happened because she still can’t remember.” Josephine stops pacing to look at him again.

“Clarke didn’t kill Finn.” Bellamy knows it’s true, deep down inside he knows that Clarke could never kill someone—unless it was in self-defense. He sees the doubt on Josephine’s face.

She shakes her head. “How can you be sure? If she can’t remember anything that happened then how do we know she didn’t do it?”

Bellamy just barely manages to keep himself from laying into Josephine about ever doubting her sister but he manages not to. He gets it, she’s been dealing with this practically on her own all week. Of course, she’s losing faith. He can’t really blame her for that. But he’s here now and he won’t let either of them lose faith in Clarke.

“She  _ couldn’t  _ kill someone, Josephine—you know that.” Bellamy sighs, patting the bed beside him. “Come sit.”

Josephine nods as she makes her way to the bed once more. “I know. It’s what I keep telling myself but what if I’m wrong? What if she did a horrible thing and now her mind is hiding it from her so that she doesn’t have to deal with the trauma.”

Bellamy snorts, gesturing around the room. “Does this look like someone who isn’t traumatized? I don’t think that her mind would lock away the memory just so she can be traumatized by not remembering.”

“What if she was drugged?” Josephine shakes her head. “Then she might not act like herself.”

“Do you want Clarke to be guilty?” Bellamy asks quietly.

Josephine’s eyes snap up to meet his and he can see the anger there. “Of course not. How could you say something like that?” she demands.

“I didn’t actually think that you did want her to be guilty. But it sounded like you were losing hope and I figured pissing you off was the best way to snap you out of it.” Bellamy shrugs.

Josephine’s eyes narrow as she stares at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Bellamy says but before he can continue both his and Josephine’s phones go off. His eyes meet hers and they both sit there frozen for a moment. There’s only one reason that their phones would be going off at the same time—if the secret account was posting. But it couldn’t be because Finn is dead. Shit.

“But I thought for sure that it was Finn,” Josephine says slowly. “Does this mean that Finn was Clarke’s stalker, but not the person behind the secrets?”

Bellamy shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

“Fuck,” Josephine mutters. “This is not going to help Clarke’s case if she can’t figure out a way to tell the story to the cops right.”

“What story?”

Josephine turns to look at him for a moment, frowning. “I came up with a story for her to tell. She left The Empire in the wee hours of Saturday morning—after sleeping with Finn—and then the two of us stayed in all weekend to have a girl’s weekend. I even gave her a few movies to name so that it wouldn’t be so suspicious.” She shakes her head. “But I don’t know if she can do it.”

“Maybe it would be better if she told the truth?” Bellamy is reluctant to say it, but honestly, it might be the only way to keep Clarke out of jail. 

Josephine rolls her eyes. “That’s a terrible idea, Bellamy, and don’t go suggesting it to her—not after I worked so hard on getting our story nailed into her head.”

Bellamy holds up his hands in surrender. “It was just a suggestion in case they caught her in a lie. Because that’s a good way for her to end up in jail.”

“Look, I’m doing the best I can here,” Josephine starts, temper rising.

Bellamy reaches out and lays his hand atop hers. “I know you are and I’m going to help now.”

Josephine immediately deflates. “I’m glad because I’m not sure how much longer I could do this on my own.”

“Where is Clarke?” Bellamy asks. 

“My room,” Josephine gestures toward the hallway. “I gave her a sleeping pill and told her to sleep so that I could come clean this up.”

Bellamy nods. “Okay. Well, first, I’m going to stay over tonight. I want to talk to Clarke tomorrow. And second, I’m going to help you clean up this mess. You’re not alone in this anymore.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Bellamy laughs. “Because I love her.” He shrugs. “I understand why she did what she did and now she’s in trouble—you’re both possibly in trouble at this point—so now we need to figure out how to keep her out of jail until we figure out who actually killed Finn.”

Josephine studies him for another moment before nodding. “I finally see what Clarke saw in you.”

“Gee, thanks.” Bellamy rolls his eyes as both of their phones go off again. Their eyes meet, an uneasy look passing between them as Bellamy shakes his head and pulls out his phone.

“Shit, I need to call Miller and make sure he’s okay,” Bellamy says as he stands up. “Give me just a minute and I’ll be back to help you in here.”

“Thank you,” Josephine says so quietly that Bellamy almost isn’t sure if she’s said it or not.

He sighs as he pushes out of the room and makes his way downstairs, already dialing Miller. He can’t believe that this isn’t over. They’d thought that Finn had been running the secret account and he’s dead and there are still tweets coming from it. He guesses that his investigation isn’t over after all. He quickly dials Miller’s number and waits for his friend to answer.

* * *

Raven sits on Murphy’s couch, her annoyance slowly rising. They’re supposed to be watching a movie together but Murphy has been surly ever since she got here. He keeps telling her that nothing is wrong, but it’s obvious that something is. She gets that he might not be ready to open up and tell her what’s on his mind, but why did he bother to invite her over if he was just going to ignore her?

She turns her head slowly, eyes narrowing on Murphy where he sits at a barstool at the counter, his back to her. He’s already on his second drink since she arrived and she’s only been here for thirty minutes. 

She clears her throat, but he doesn’t even seem to notice. That’s it—she’s over this. “What the hell is going on, Murphy? Do you not want me here?” she demands as she stands up and stalks over to where he sits.

“Of course I want you here.” Murphy makes a face like he’s confused.

“Then why the hell are you acting like this?”

Murphy doesn’t say anything for a moment as he lifts his drink to his lips before setting it down on the counter. “There’s some stuff going on that I’m worried about.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Murphy shakes his head as he lifts his glass to his lips once more.

Raven bites the inside of her cheek as she tries to keep her temper under control. “And why can’t you tell me? Do you think that keeping secrets is the way to be in a relationship? Because I can tell you right now, it’s not. And I won’t put up with it.”

“It’s not my secret to tell,” Murphy roars, slamming his glass down so hard Raven is worried it might break. “I have a friend in trouble and I did what I could to help them, but I don’t know if it’s enough. I can’t stop worrying that I didn’t do enough and that everything is going to fall apart.”

Raven sighs. “Okay, what kind of trouble are we talking about?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Raven squeezes her eyes shut and she counts to five. “Okay, then what can you tell me?”

“That I need you,” Murphy speaks softly, not meeting her eyes as he says it.

“What do you need?” she asks, anger already forgotten. If Murphy is saying that he needs her he really is freaked out over something. If he can’t tell her she will have to respect that. But hopefully, she’ll be able to help him in some way.

“I just need you here with me while I lose my shit.” Murphy reaches out and pulls her to him. He lays his head on her chest and is silent for a moment. “I promise that I’ll tell you everything when I can. But for now, can you just be here with me so that I don’t completely lose my shit?”

She nods slowly. “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do to help?”

“Not right now.” She feels him shaking his head but he still doesn’t lift his head from her chest. “Thank you.”

Raven runs her hand through his hair, mind running a million miles a second. He wonders which of their friends could be in trouble because she’s absolutely sure that she knows whoever it is—otherwise, he would’ve given her more information. Murphy finally sits back up, pulling her in, and kissing her softly. 

“Fuck,” she curses when she hears her phone going off. “I thought that I’d turned the damn thing off. Hold on.”

Raven walks over and grabs it from the table, annoyed that she hadn’t silenced it when she’d heard it go off early. She hadn’t felt like dealing with whoever was trying to contact her. She quickly unlocks her phone and sees three different alerts as she silences her phone. Clicking on the most recently alert she almost drops her phone as her hands start to shake. No, this can’t be happening. No, this was supposed to be over.

“Raven?” Murphy calls out to her but he sounds so far away.

She can’t stop looking at the message on her screen. They’d all been so sure that since Finn was Clarke’s stalker, that he’d also been the person sending the secret tweets. But he’s dead and there is a message about her and she sees that there are two more that she doesn’t want to read. She’s afraid.

“Is this true?” Murphy asks from over her shoulder and Raven jumps. She hadn’t heard him walk up behind her.

Raven finally shakes out of it, silencing her phone before turning to face Murphy. “Yeah, it is.” She holds her head high as she tells him about the night that is one of her greatest regrets.

“I told you that Finn and I were seeing each other at the beginning of the year—now I know that we weren’t seeing each other, we were just screwing.” She shakes her head. “He convinced me to do a lot of things that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. That night he got me high on X and drunk off my ass before convincing me that it would be fun. I should’ve known that he took pictures.”

Raven shoots Murphy a half-smile. “It’s not that it wasn’t fun and I don’t completely regret it, but I know what people are going to say about me. The scholarship kid is a whore. She tried to sleep her way to the top.” She shakes her head. “You know I’m right.”

“Not if they know what’s good for them,” Murphy growls, pulling her in for a hug. “Anyone says anything I’ll kick their asses.”

Raven smiles as she loops her arms around his neck. “I know you would.” She pulls back, a smile on her face. “You know what? I don’t care what anyone says about me at that stupid school. They can think whatever they want. I’m young and beautiful and I deserve to have a good time—if I want to have threesomes, I should have threesomes.”

“Yes you should,” Murphy laughs before leaning down to kiss her. “But how about we have a good time of our own?”

Raven doesn’t answer as she presses her lips to his. Murphy may not have told her what is going on to have him freaking out so badly but she feels like they’ve at least made a step in the right direction. For now, she’s just going to have fun with her boyfriend.


End file.
